When Jutsu Go Wrong
by Leonineus
Summary: When two jutsu combine, odd things can happen, as Naruto Namikaze just discovered. AU/AT, NaruxHarem
1. The Ultimate Malfunction

When Jutsu Go Wrong

Summary: During the final battle with Madara, Naruto takes on Madara in hand-to-hand combat. While Madara and Naruto are fighting, Madara feels the jutsu acting on him and tries to use his time-space ninjutsu to escape. Naruto, realizing what he is about to try and do, gets an even tighter grip on him so that Madara will transport him as well. The two jutsu end up reacting and sending Naruto ten years into his past and dumping him, still at twenty-three, at the point just before he steals the Forbidden Scroll.

Thanks go to Chilord, whose currently-one-chapter story Bare Naked Time Travel served as the inspiration for this one. I advise anybody reading this to go read that story, as well as Chilord's completed Naruto fic Bondage Style, which is extremely funny. NOTE: I am not plagiarizing this from Chilord, but if he insists that I take it down I will.

Chapter One: The Ultimate Malfunction

Naruto was fighting with Madara, each trying furiously to cut down his opponent. Behind Madara, Kakashi raised his forehead protector and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Kamui!"

Madara noticed the sensation emanating from his back, realized what was happening and made to use his space-time ninjutsu to escape. Naruto noticed and clamped his hands onto Madara's forearms in an attempt to stop him escaping.

It didn't work. There was a flash, a horrible twisting sensation, and then complete darkness and silence.

-WJGW-

Naruto woke up lying on the ground wrapped in the smoking, charred shreds of his Sage Mode jacket and surrounded by ANBU. Cursing under his breath, he tried to sit upright but instead found a thicket of katanas pointed at his neck. He slowly raised his empty hands and said, "Calm down please, I am no threat to any of you."

One of them, who Naruto saw was wearing a cat mask and remembered to be called Yūgao Uzuki, placed the tip of her katana against Naruto's forehead, "What's your name?"

Naruto raised one hand and gently moved the katana away from his face with a single finger, "Can I at least stand up, Neko-san?"

Yūgao took a step backwards and lowered her katana, signalling for the rest of her team to lower theirs as well. She waited until Naruto was standing before asking again, "Who are you and why are you here? What happened to you?"

"Ok, can you take me to the Hokage first, Neko-san? I need to explain this to him and I'd rather not do it twice."

Yūgao stared at him for a long moment, her expression behind the mask inscrutable before she nodded at him and said, "Very well." One of the ANBU behind him gripped his shoulder and suddenly they were standing outside the Hokage's office. Yūgao knocked and opened the door, "Hokage-sama, there's someone here who needs to speak to you."

A few seconds later Naruto was shepherded into the room to find Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting behind the desk looking very much alive. The sheer impact of seeing a man he had once considered a father alive again when he had once watched him die made him falter for a second, but then he stood up with his back straight and dignity as good as he could get it when he was mostly naked but for the shreds of what had once been a pretty cool Sage Mode jacket.

Naruto was pushed down into a chair and had two katanas set against his neck. "For goodness' sake, Neko-san, I am not going to try and kill jii-san!"

Sarutobi stood up, leaning on his desk, "I only let one person call me that. Who are you, where did you come from and why are you here?"

Naruto sighed, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, I come from ten years in the future and I'm here because some moron with a Mangekyō Sharingan named Kakashi Hatake tried to get the drop on Madara Uchiha while I was fighting with him and attempted to send him to another dimension or whatever the hell Kakashi's Mangekyō Sharingan does. Madara noticed and activated that stupid teleportation jutsu he knows, the two jutsu reacted and I got blasted back here."

Sarutobi sat back down, "You're going to have to come up with a better story than that if you want me to believe it. Madara Uchiha is dead, the Naruto Uzumaki I know is much younger than you and Kakashi Hatake hasn't got a Mangekyō Sharingan."

"That's what you think," muttered Naruto, "Anyway, I wasn't finished. Back in my time, which should be ten years from now, you're dead after Orochimaru killed you at the Chūnin Exams that are coming up sometime soon, Asuma-sensei is dead after a fight with Akatsuki, Tsunade-baa-chan was Godaime Hokage until Madara killed her in front of me, the ero-sennin got killed by Pain and then Pain razed the Leaf Village until I arrived from Mount Myoboku and killed him with Sage Mode which I learnt from the toads after ero-sennin died, then Madara came to the Leaf with Sasuke Uchiha and started trying to kill everybody. After baa-chan died, that prick Danzō was promoted to Rokudaime Hokage and decided the Leaf would be better off without me and banished me. Most of the shinobi I know, including Kakashi and all the remaining members of my shinobi generation followed me out, but everybody in the Leaf was killed a month later except for Ayame Ichiraku who managed to escape and found me. She told me what had happened, then died in my arms. I went back leading all my friends, but Madara's army of Zetsu clones, that guy's a real freak by the way, was too strong and killed all of them except me and Kakashi. I was fighting with Madara, Kakashi tried to send him into another dimension with Kamui but then it reacted with the prick's teleportation jutsu and sent me back into the past instead."

Yūgao frowned down at Naruto before walking around to the front and squinting at him, "You know, Hokage-sama, he does look a lot like the grasshopper. What do you think, Tenzō?"

"Tenzō?" repeated Naruto, turning to look at the ANBU, "Is that you behind that mask Yamato-taichō?"

The man blinked down at him, "How do you know that name? Only somebody who I worked with outside the ANBU would know that name!"

Naruto sighed, "After I came back from my training trip with Jiraiya, the Godaime Kazekage had been kidnapped by Akatsuki as he was the jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku. We managed to get him back but Akatsuki were able to extract the Shukaku before we could get there. Sakura killed this Suna missing-nin called Sasori of the Red Sands and I fought this Iwa missing-nin called Deidara. Kakashi used the same thing that sent me back here, Kamui, on Deidara about three times and exhausted himself. Since he wasn't able to take us on our next mission where we met up with Orochimaru on the Tenchi Bridge, you took over as our team leader for that mission."

The ANBU stared at him for a long moment before sighing and removing his mask. Naruto grinned, recognizing the distinctive hitai-ate that framed his old taichō's face. The man looked thoughtful, "I'm still not quite convinced…"

"…And," said Naruto, evidently not finished, "I also later found out that you still go to bed every night with a kitsune plushie named…" His voice faded away as Yamato proved he still had great mastery over the ghoulish face that had so often terrified Naruto back on Team 7. "At least you can still use that face…" grumbled Naruto as behind him, he heard Neko giggle.

"What's this about a kitsune plushie, Tenzō-chan?"

Yamato leaned forwards and hissed in Naruto's ear, "Care to find out what a wood-chip enema feels like for what you just did?"

Naruto shuddered inwardly at the thought before turning back to Sarutobi and saying, "So, any chance you could pit me against a few jōnin so I can test my skills on them?"

Sarutobi smiled, "Who would you like to face?"

Naruto thought for a moment before ticking off on his fingers, "Kakashi… gives me an opportunity to get back at the jerk for sending me here, and yes I know he won't know why he's being punished but I'm not happy with being back here at the moment… Anko, Kurenai, Gai, Asuma… that works."

Sarutobi frowned, "Three jōnin, a tokubetsu jōnin and an ex-ANBU captain? Are you sure, Naruto?"

Naruto stared at the Sandaime and said in a very deadpan voice, "Absolutely sure…" before closing his eyes and opening them again to reveal two amber eyes with horizontal bar-shaped pupils.

Sarutobi's eyes briefly widened before he turned to Tenzō, "Find Anko Mitarashi, Kakashi Hatake, Kurenai Yūhi, Maito Gai and my son and bring them here. And," he continued to Neko as Tenzō donned his mask and left the room, "Can you _please_ find Uzumaki-kun something to wear? Having to avert my eyes every ten seconds is getting troublesome… oh Kami I'm turning into a Nara!" He banged his head on the desk in despair for a minute.

As Neko made to lead Naruto from the room, a thought struck Naruto and he turned back, "Jii-san?"

"Yes?"

"Depending on the results of my test against the guys, might I be able to take a genin team? Preferably with my younger self on it?"

"We'll see, Naruto. By the way, what'll be your cover story while you're here?"

"Ummmm… my tou-san's cousin named Hikaru, who lived in Uzushiogakure and was the reason my kaa-san was sent to Konoha to learn at the Academy? I recently heard that my cousin had died and came to Konoha seeking anyone who might be able to tell me what happened?"

Sarutobi blinked, "You came up with that pretty fast."

Naruto shrugged, "When you've had to look after yourself for a fair few years, you learn to improvise on the fly."

Yūgao prodded his arm, "Come on, Namikaze-san."

Naruto nodded, turning to follow the purple-haired ANBU out of the room. He grinned slyly at her as they walked away down the corridor, "You know, back in my time, you were dating Hayate Gekkō."

Yūgao glanced at him with an air of interest about her, "Oh really? And how did that come about?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is that he was killed during the Chūnin Exams…" he suddenly stopped and slammed a hand to his forehead, "The Chūnin Exams! I've got to go back and warn jii-san that Orochimaru's planning to attack the village during the next Chūnin Exam!"

Yūgao put a hand on his arm, "It's ok Na… Hikaru, you can tell him when we get back."

-WJGW-

Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Maito Gai, Kurenai Yūhi and Anko Mitarashi stood in a neat line before the Hokage's desk, waiting for the person they were supposed to fight to arrive. Finally the door opened and all five turned around to see a tall blond man with cerulean eyes and whisker-like marks on his cheeks walking in dressed in a standard black jōnin bodysuit and followed by a cat-masked ANBU who Kurenai and Anko recognized and winked at. She gave them a thumbs-up, raised her mask just enough to reveal her mouth and mouthed, "He's _really_ muscular!"

As the two kunoichi cast a glance over the stranger, they had to agree. The bodysuit clung to his chest in a way that defined every individual muscle and revealed every little ripple of them as he moved. Kurenai had a sudden urge to giggle like a schoolgirl.

"Ah, Hikaru-san, you're here!" said Sarutobi cheerfully as he turned to the five people standing in front of his desk, "May I present Hikaru Namikaze, the Yondaime's cousin who has come to the Leaf asking to join up. I want you five to test his skills to see what rank he will end up at."

Anko snorted, chewing on a stick of dango, "You expect him to be able to hold out against five of us? I somehow doubt- AH!" She suddenly yelped with surprise as she felt a stinging slap to her shapely behind, but when she whirled on the spot there was nobody there. The only difference in the scene before her was that before the slap, the Namikaze had been wearing a blank expression and had his arms folded. Now, he had a smirk on his face and had his hands _behind his back_.

Anko saw red. She hadn't seen this man move but she knew he had been the one to slap her ass. She immediately made a mental note that this man was going to die in his sleep one evening, perhaps due to a large poisonous snake biting him somewhere horribly delicate.

Kakashi, despite his stoicism/indifference, was gaping at the stranger from under his mask. He looked so much like the Yondaime it was unbelievable. Finally the blond turned to him and said, "Yes… I know I look like my cousin; it's a Namikaze family trait."

Sarutobi smiled, "Hikaru-san, this is Kakashi Hatake, one of the Yondaime's genin team… and the only one still alive, regrettably."

Kakashi shook hands with Hikaru, who then turned to the others, "And them?" He had the oddest feeling that Hikaru was playing dumb, and the resemblance to the Yondaime was still nagging at him. He was sure he'd seen a boy who looked like a younger version of this one running around the village…

The Sandaime started making more introductions, "This is Asuma, my son…"

"Hello," said Asuma, grinning as he twirled one of a pair of trench knives around his index finger.

"…Maito Gai, also known as the Noble Green Beast of Konoha…"

"Yosh! We will test the strength of your flames of youth, Hikaru-san!" boomed the huge spandex-clad behemoth, causing everybody's eyelids to twitch convulsively for a second before they regained control.

"…Kurenai Yūhi, a recently promoted jōnin who specializes in genjutsu…"

Kurenai's red eyes widened slightly as the man smirked at her before bending over and kissing the back of her hand like a proper gentleman, but she managed to force down the urge to titter like a little girl and become utterly starstruck.

"…and Anko Mitarashi, who works in the Torture and Interrogation Division."

Anko's eyebrows rose as the man bent over her hand, but she did not punch him as she was tempted to. Better to wait until she had an _excuse_ to fight him, and then neuter him horribly for slapping her ass.

"Anyway," said Sarutobi, "Let us head over to Training Ground #14 for this test."

Yūgao and Tenzō glanced at each other and nodded once before all of them disappeared in swirls of leaves.

-WJGW-

They all reappeared on the training field in question. The first thing Hikaru did, oddly enough, was to pull a length of material from his pocket and tie it over his eyes.

Kurenai stared at him for a long moment before she raised a hand and said, "I secede. All I really can do is put genjutsu over him, and if his eyes are covered then I will definitely be no use."

Sarutobi shook his head, "At least give it a shot, please, Kurenai-san."

The kunoichi sighed, before adopting a ready stance. Yūgao and Tenzō took up positions on either side of the Hokage to watch.

-WJGW-

Maito Gai was the first to attack. He flung himself towards the blond person opposite him with his feet extended in front of him. He was very shocked when the person dodged; not just dodged, but caught him by his feet, twisted sharply on his heels and flung Gai back the way he had come so that Asuma and Kakashi were forced to duck in order to avoid being knocked over.

Both of them threw themselves forwards, Kakashi raising his hitai-ate to expose his Sharingan. To his shock, there was a different kind of chakra circulating through the blond's body, deep gold in colour. This new Namikaze was becoming stranger by the minute.

Hikaru caught Kakashi's wrists and swung him into Asuma like a club, knocking the second jōnin to the ground.

Kurenai was busy weaving a genjutsu which would sap the Namikaze's energy when he suddenly vanished in a shunshin and she felt soft breath on her ear, which was immediately followed by a sound slap to her rear.

Kurenai whirled on the spot, red eyes burning and twin kunai appearing in her hands almost by magic, only to see the blond chuckle and vanish.

Anko was laughing as she saw one of her female friends have her ass slapped, but stopped when the blond had vanished from behind Kurenai and Anko suddenly felt a hand swipe across her own backside in passing. Immediately she drew her own twin kunai and began hunting for the Namikaze.

Hikaru ducked Gai's swipe at his head with his fists, before twisting round, grabbing Gai's wrists and flipping him over his head, landing him face-down in the dirt so hard the ground shuddered. Almost immediately he leaned backwards and ducked the two kunai that were thrust at either side of his head.

Bringing his hands up, he grabbed hold of the hands holding the kunai and drew the two kunoichi in close. Manipulating the two women, he made each kunai cut open the opposite kunoichi's top so that they fluttered free before twisting their wrists so that they dropped the kunai and then yanked both towards him, stepping back smartly at the last second so that they collided in a tangle of arms and legs.

Both women were busy trying to separate when Anko glimpsed the blond unrolling several strands of ninja wire. Before she could react, however, the blond flicked two out, looping them around her wrists and ankles.

Anko was yanked hard against Kurenai so that they were pinned chest to chest as she felt the ninja wire around her ankles swing around to encompass Kurenai's ankles as well before looping again and tying them tightly together. As Anko tried to squirm free, the ninja wire around her wrists came into play. She found her wrists yanked above her head and tied firmly to Kurenai's. The two kunoichi were now pinned face-to-face as more ninja wire wrapped around their waists, pulling them chest-to-chest as well and squashing their breasts together.

As Hikaru finished tying off the three wires he had used, Anko and Kurenai both began swearing at him. He wagged a finger, "Such unladylike language, Anko-chan, Kurenai-chan!" Laughing, he left them lying on the ground and turned away as he heard a sound behind him.

Asuma, it transpired, had got back up and attacked Hikaru with his trench knives, only to have both blocked with kunai. Looking into the blond's face and seeing a truly evil grin there, Asuma felt a small thrill of foreboding before Hikaru drew back his foot and then slammed it with all his strength into Asuma's crotch.

Every male in the vicinity winced as one, even Tenzō and Sarutobi.

Asuma collapsed onto the ground whimpering with pain. As Kakashi tried to take the opportunity, Naruto suddenly vanished in another shunshin. Normally, Kakashi would have no problem against enemies using shunshin, as the fast movement could easily be tracked by his Sharingan. Bizarrely, Hikaru's shunshin was so fast that it seemed capable of matching his old sensei's Hiraishin.

As Kakashi heard the soft hiss as Hikaru reappeared behind him, he instinctively realized what was about to happen. His brain, however, could not catch up in time to prevent the inevitable, so he could do nothing but stand there as he heard Hikaru intone, "Hidden Leaf Secret Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years of DEATH!"

There was a brief moment of horror for Kakashi, before he felt the blow land and suddenly his world was nothing but utter pain.

As Kakashi was catapulted into the air, Sarutobi chuckled at Hikaru's antics. The blond seemed to be trying to humiliate his opponents more than anything.

As Kakashi dropped to the ground next to Asuma, cradling his throbbing behind and whimpering in as much agony as the bearded jōnin, Hikaru entered into a ferocious spar with Gai who had, by this time, managed to pull his face out of the ground.

Yūgao watched practically starry-eyed as the Namikaze systematically destroyed his opposition. Admittedly, he could have done better than to antagonize Anko Mitarashi in such a way as tearing open her fishnet shirt and then tying her chest-to-chest with another kunoichi, but otherwise the way he was dealing with them was admirable.

Sarutobi was staring at the Namikaze as he dealt with five of the best jōnin in Konoha. In his opinion, the blond had more than proved that he was capable of being promoted straight to jōnin, and he hadn't even showed off any real jutsu yet. "Tenzō-san, Yūgao-san," he said.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Do you think that Namikaze would make a good jōnin-sensei?"

Yūgao watched the blond as he battled Gai before she turned back and nodded, "Most definitely. His fighting style is impressive, and he seems like the type who would get on well with a genin team."

"How about you, Tenzō-san?"

"I don't know him well enough yet but I agree with Yūgao-san's observations."

"Very well." Sarutobi turned back towards the fight, only to fly backwards propelled by an SS-class nosebleed.

Hikaru had evidently learnt Shadow Clone Jutsu from somewhere, as he had just created a clone and henged into Anko Mitarashi, while the clone henged into Kurenai Yūhi.

The two kunoichi on the ground redoubled their efforts to get free of the ninja wire when they saw what the blond was doing.

Gai stopped dead and stared at the sight before him; the sight of a very scantily-clad Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yūhi tongue-kissing before looking at him with very sexy expressions and begging him to come over and discipline both of them for "being bad little girls" was so startling to the spandex-clad jōnin that he just passed out.

Hikaru dropped his henge and dispelled the clone, only to turn to Sarutobi, remove the ribbon tied around his eyes and smirk.

Sarutobi chuckled as Hikaru sauntered over to him, leaving the five jōnin to sort themselves out.

"So, how did I do?"

"You did well enough. Come back to the office and I'll get you a jōnin vest. By the look of it, you also proved you're capable of looking after a genin team."

Hikaru grinned, "Awesome! Can I get mys… my little second cousin?"

Sarutobi frowned, "Are you sure you're the best person to teach him?"

Hikaru snorted, before speaking in an undertone, "Back in my time, the only thing Kakashi ever taught me was tree walking. Everything else I either came up with by myself or ero-sennin taught me. Believe me, give me Naruto Uzumaki and he'll be an excellent ninja in a few months even if he is the current dead-last."

Yūgao frowned, "If you only arrived in this village a few hours ago, how do you know that he's the dead-last?"

Hikaru turned to her, "Remember, I am from the future…?"

Yūgao nodded, "Oh yes."

Sarutobi interjected, "Do you want anyone else on your team, or can I choose?"

Hikaru snorted, "I'll take the Uchiha. He was a proper prick back in my time and I really want to break that ego of his. As for a kunoichi, I'd like Hinata, please."

Yūgao sniggered, "The Hyūga heiress? Doesn't she have a massive crush on the younger you?"

Hikaru laughed, "Why do you think I want her? I was a right idiot last time to like Sakura when Hinata was a much better person and she actually liked me."

Yūgao sniggered, "And when did you figure it out?"

Hikaru looked grave for a second, "Sasuke stabbed her and she died in my arms. She told me how she'd felt about me all those years with her last breath, kissed my cheek and then died. I went to my controlled jinchūriki form and killed Sasuke in revenge." He scowled, "That's why I want him on my genin team. If I can break that attitude before it does lethal damage, I might be able to stop everything from going to shit. It's one of the reasons why I'm glad I came back in time; if I can get my younger self set up with Hinata then he won't be hooked up on Sakura." A thought seemed to hit him, "Actually, if I can gather the rest of the jinchūriki then Akatsuki won't get them. I need to get in contact with, let's see… Iwa had two, Kumo had two, one of which was Bee… Suna had Gaara… Taki had one… Kiri had two I think, one of which is the current Mizukage and from what I know he's being controlled by Madara so if I can break that off right now I should be able to fix up some kind of treaty. Actually I could ask Kumo's jinchūriki if they'd be willing to help me and my younger self gain better control over the Kyūbi, my attempt isn't working right. At least, I can't really use it that well."

Sarutobi looked briefly concerned, "You will check with me before you do all of this, won't you? And if you're going to have a genin team, you won't be able to do all of this."

Hikaru smirked, "Of course. If I can train them up to a decent-enough level quite quickly, maybe I could take them with me on my trips to the various Elemental Countries. Ero-sennin did the same thing with me when he took me on my three-year training trip."

Sarutobi nodded, before another thought occurred to him, "You do realize that the council is going to want to make you the head of the Namikaze clan as soon as they get wind of your presence in Konoha, right?"

Hikaru shrugged, "Oh well. By the way, remind me to kill that asshole Danzō at the first opportunity. When you get right down to it, that asshole's the reason why I ended up back here, not that I'm complaining."

Sarutobi chuckled, "I see you hate the old war-hawk as much as I do then."

Hikaru gave a brief nod, before stretching slightly. Yūgao's eyes instantly locked onto his abdominal muscles and she blushed behind her mask. "Well," he said, "I need to go find a place to live now, I have to be up early tomorrow."

"If I may ask, why?"

"Well, if I'm going to be a jōnin-sensei, I'm going to need to get a feel for my prospective students, aren't I? And while I know perfectly well that one of them is in fact me at a much younger age, I still want to have a look at the other two."

"But you worked with one of them for months didn't you?"

"Dammit, jiji! Alright, the reason I want to get up early is because I know full well what's going to happen with Naruto tomorrow, so I want to be ready!"

"What's going to happen?"

"Well that's actually a rather interesting story…" He smirked and began to explain as they continued to head back towards the Hokage Tower.

Back on the training field, Asuma had cut the two kunoichi free with one of his trench knives as soon as he was able to stand. As Anko buttoned her trench coat to hide her dignity, she looked at Kurenai, "Was it just me, or did getting utterly owned by that Namikaze guy turn you on too?"

Kurenai tilted her head to one side for a second before she frowned and nodded, "A little. I could've done without the humiliation though." She tugged her coat shut over her own front.

Both of them noticed Asuma standing there looking stupid. "What are you looking at?" they both snapped, causing the bearded jōnin to flinch and run off.

-WJGW-

Once Hikaru had collected his new jōnin vest and the files on Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyūga and the younger Naruto Uzumaki from the Hokage, he headed off to where Sarutobi told him the old Namikaze mansion used to stand.

Deactivating the blood seals that concealed it from non-Namikaze eyes, Hikaru opened the door with the key that Sarutobi had given him and went inside. Sighing at the slightly decrepit state of the place, he had immediately created about twenty shadow clones and ordered them to clean up the house.

He himself ventured into the study; quickly locating the secret compartment behind a portrait of his parents that he recognized from his own time, and had soon found the large safe behind it. Removing a large amount of ryō from the safe, he headed out into town.

He returned a few hours later in a foul mood; he had literally run into his younger self being pursued by a large mob of people wielding pitchforks and shouting about "finishing off the Yondaime's work".

It was lucky for him they were all civilians, because if any of them other than about two had been shinobi he probably wouldn't have held back.

As it was, he unleashed a very large amount of killing intent and yelled at them that the boy they were chasing was the Yondaime's legacy and therefore should be respected and not feared and isolated. When one of the civilians, a particularly fat merchant he recognized from his own youth as having been particularly vicious towards him, called him on that, he simply glared at the man and said, "I am Hikaru Namikaze, the Yondaime's cousin. If you call me out on my opinion of my own cousin's last wishes again I will not hesitate to injure you. _Is that clear?_"

The civilians cowered at the concentrated killing intent, though for a couple of them who were stupid enough to think that this person would happily let them have the kid if they told him what he was said, "But he's a demon! Why would you protect a demon?"

Hikaru's eyes flashed and the killing intent thickened, causing several of the civilians to release their bowels, "I advise all of you…" he hissed with venom in his tone, "…to start running before I start enforcing Sandaime's Law using sharp objects." To add to the effect he drew three kunai in each hand, holding them between his fingers so that they stuck out like claws.

The civilians scattered. Hikaru smirked as they fled, before glancing down to see that the younger Naruto was gone, having evidently made his escape while the civilians were otherwise detained.

Now, walking back to the Namikaze mansion with several bags of new clothes sealed away in one of his new sealing scrolls, Hikaru reflected that he had never really noticed just how much persecution he had faced as a child until he had witnessed it from a bystander's viewpoint. For most of his childhood, he had been running away.

When he reached the house, he stopped and turned his head slightly before speaking. "Care to explain why you are following me, kid?"

Turning, he saw Naruto Uzumaki creeping out from where he had been hiding behind a tree. The boy fidgeted slightly before he suddenly blurted out, "How did you make all those guys run?"

Hikaru stared down at the boy, feigning ignorance as to his identity, "And you are?"

The blond drew himself up, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna be the Hokage someday!"

Hikaru sweatdropped, _"Was I really this annoying when I was a kid? Sheesh, no wonder hardly anybody liked me. Well, time to set things right."_

Out loud he said, "Uzumaki, eh? Well then Naruto Uzumaki, what year are you in at the Academy? Speaking of which shouldn't you be in school?"

Naruto snorted, "My final exam is tomorrow, but I know everything except the Illusion Clone, which I can't do for some stupid reason."

Hikaru remembered the Sandaime once telling him that the reason he could never create a perfect illusion clone was because having the Kyūbi sealed inside him boosted his chakra reserves so much that trying to isolate that little chakra was like using an eye-dropper to extract water from the ocean.

Smiling down, he crouched in front of the boy and ruffled his hair, "I'm sure you'll manage. Run along now, Uzumaki, and watch out for the civilians, y'hear? I might not be around to dissuade them next time."

Suddenly, a voice came from some distance away, "Naruto!"

Both blondes looked up at once and said, "Yes?"

Hikaru blinked as he saw who was approaching; Iruka Umino. Resisting the urge to grab the man's arm and drag him off to Ichiraku Ramen, he turned to Naruto, "Is that your teacher?"

Iruka drew up to them, scowling, "Naruto, your final exam is tomorrow, wouldn't your time be better spent practicing and revising than pulling pranks?"

He didn't wait for an answer, but turned to Hikaru, "I'm sorry that my student was harassing you mister…?"

"Namikaze, Hikaru Namikaze."

Both of them stared at him with wide eyes, prompting him to sigh, "Yes, I am the Yondaime's cousin. The fact that I look almost identical to him is a family trait." He noticed Naruto staring at him, "Yes?"

The boy shook his head, "Never mind."

Hikaru smiled, "Anyway, you should get going, kid. If you've got your final exam tomorrow, then you should be revising as your sensei says. Speaking of which, I don't think I got your name?"

"Iruka, Iruka Umino, Namikaze-sama."

"Please, Hikaru. Namikaze-sama makes me sound old."

Iruka chuckled, "Come on, Naruto. I'll treat you to some ramen."

Naruto sighed, before he nodded and scampered away with Iruka. Hikaru watched him go, wondering whether he should try and help. _"No," _he decided, _"My younger self needs to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu himself, or god-forbid he might turn into the Uchiha. I think I'd probably end up killing him if he turned out like that. Hmm… I wonder if killing my younger self would count as fratricide, homicide or suicide? Best not to find out I guess."_

Still pondering, he entered the house and closed the door.

-WJGW-

Hikaru rose early the next morning and read through the files on Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke, before wandering across to the Academy to watch the final exams from atop a roof. On the way he stopped in at a ninja shop and asked about chakra blades.

The bun-haired brunette behind the counter had to call her parents in from the back room. When her father saw Hikaru he stumbled, "Y-Yondaime-sama!"

Hikaru chuckled, "Not quite. Yondaime-sama's _cousin_."

The man recovered quickly, "Ah, very well. Well as you asked about chakra blades, I might as well give these to you, being his closest living relative."

He walked into the back room. His wife's eyes widened, "Tensu! You can't be talking about… those?"

"What else could I be talking about?" responded the man's excited voice, "I've wanted to get rid of these for years, but I couldn't really dishonour my old friend's last request like that!"

He ran back out a minute later carrying a large bundle, "These were requested by your cousin, he was interested in learning kenjutsu and even more interested in chakra blades!" He unrolled the bundle to reveal two long blades. Hikaru recognized one as being a katana, the other being a straight-bladed ninjatō. He grinned, "Those look perfect. What do they do, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tensu grinned, rubbing his hands together with glee and seemed to not register Hikaru's question for a long moment. When his daughter nudged him he seemed to snap back to himself and said, "Oh, you can channel chakra through them to achieve various effects. For example, channelling wind chakra through them gives them the ability to cut through absolutely anything, channelling fire chakra makes them radiate intense heat; so much as scratching an enemy with the blade in that state will burn them horribly, and channelling lightning chakra through them causes anyone they hit to receive a powerful electric shock. For some reason they do nothing when water or earth chakra is channelled through them. I hope you don't consider that a fault in any way, Namikaze-sama."

Hikaru shook his head, "Of course not, my chakra nature is in fact wind so there is no problem at all. Out of interest, would I be able to give one of these to another family member as a gift? He would appreciate having something by which he could remember our mutual relative."

Tensu stared blankly at him for a moment, causing Hikaru to think he might have offended the weaponsmith for a minute, before the man smiled and nodded, "Of course. Anybody who wishes to remember the Yondaime for the hero he was in stopping the Kyūbi has good reason to do so. I would be honoured that two of the blades I created will be carried by the Yondaime's relatives in honour of his memory." He gazed at the wall, apparently lost in memories. His daughter coughed slightly and turned to Hikaru, "Is there anything else I can do for you, Namikaze-sama?"

Hikaru chuckled, "Tell me, young lady, what is your name?"

"T-Tenten, Namikaze-sama, Tenten Takeshi."

Hikaru thought for a second, now he remembered the girl. She had been one of Neji's team back in his own time. Apparently Neji and Tenten had been close, but Neji didn't really feel the same way about Tenten that she felt about him, so they had broken up. Naruto had found the two of them dead in each other's arms a week after the break-up, each killed by Sasuke's Chidori.

"Well," he said, tearing his mind back to the present, "If I may make a single request of you, fair Tenten?"

Tenten gulped, "Y-yes?"

Hikaru smiled pleasantly at her, "Please, just call me Hikaru. Namikaze-sama makes me feel old, particularly when coming from such an attractive young thing as yourself."

Tenten went bright red, causing her mother to giggle and say, "Alright, "Hikaru-san", if you are done flirting with my daughter, is there anything else you want?"

He turned his eyes on her, causing the woman to blush slightly, "I would comment on now knowing where young Tenten gets her looks, but I doubt Tensu-san would appreciate me complimenting his wife in such a fashion, therefore I will simply request straps to hold these weapons' sheaths and then take my leave. Actually, can you make one that would fit a kid about this height," he held one hand up at around Naruto's head height, "but that I can extend enough that I can wear it until I can give it to the guy it's for?"

Tenten's mother nodded, "Of course, Nam… Hikaru-san."

Hikaru chuckled, as he wandered over to a large rack after the woman.

-WJGW-

Hikaru left the shop fifteen minutes later to a cry of "Come back to Takeshi Wares if you need anything else!" from Tenten and her parents with the two swords strapped to his back. He smiled, remembering Tensu's offer to teach him and the other relative kenjutsu in their spare time.

Quickly remembering what else he had intended to do today, he swiftly shunshined towards the Academy, landing on a roof overlooking the outer yard. He had evidently missed the tests, as Naruto now sat on a swing hanging from a tree opposite him while everybody else mingled with their parents on his side of the yard. Jumping down, he walked through the throng towards the boy, but stopped when he heard two mothers talking about his younger self, "So that's _him_?"

"Yes. I'm glad he didn't pass, can you imagine a monster like that being a shinobi…?"

"Shush, we're not supposed to talk about that."

Hikaru scowled before walking up behind the two women and putting a hand on each of their shoulders, "Damn right you shouldn't be talking about it. It's Sandaime's Law after all, and I'd hate to have to start keeping the peace with terminal force on my first day on the job after all."

The two women looked up and paled, causing Hikaru to smirk. He evidently cut an intimidating figure, six feet of solid muscle with two sword hilts protruding over his shoulders and a serious look in his eyes. He smiled pleasantly at both of them before bending down and murmuring, "The scroll is not the kunai. What something contains does not make the container the contained item. If anything, that boy should be lauded for keeping _that_ from destroying us all."

Before the mothers could respond, Hikaru and pushed his way between them and headed over to where Naruto sat, "Hey kid."

Naruto looked up, "Hi-Hikaru-sama."

Hikaru smirked, crouching down in front of him, "Just Hikaru, please. I've never been one for proper titles and all that, and I can tell you aren't one for them either."

Naruto smiled quietly before frowning, "I failed again. I don't know why I can never get my illusion clone right."

"Well," said Hikaru, "I can tell you have massive amounts of chakra, you just need to learn to use them properly. I could never perform an adequate illusion clone either, trying to isolate that little chakra was impossible for me. Tell you what, how about we…" He stopped as he became aware of somebody behind him.

Turning, he had a sudden insane urge to go for the sword on his back as he laid eyes on Mizuki. "Yes?"

Mizuki frowned, "Excuse me, but if you don't have a child at this Academy you will have to leave. I know for a fact that you aren't this boy's father."

Hikaru turned fully to face the Academy teacher and smiled, "Of course, I'm sorry. I recently became a jōnin-sensei so I thought I'd have a look at the new genin so I have an idea of which ones I might be getting and what they're like."

Mizuki frowned, "Well, I'm afraid you won't be getting Naruto here, he failed."

"So I hear, but you never know, he could surprise you." He noticed Mizuki's expression of disbelief and thought contemptuously, _"Yeah, you bastard. And he'll beat the shit out of you with about three hundred clones at the end of the night!"_

He turned back to Naruto and ruffled his hair, "Ok little man, I've got to go and talk to the Hokage about something. I'll see you around, ok?"

Naruto grinned up at him, "Ok."

Hikaru smirked and walked away. As he left he heard Mizuki say the familiar words, "I'm sorry Iruka-san failed you, but the truth is that…"

"_Alright, Mizuki-teme, let's see how you do against a Naruto that's angry and uses shadow clones to beat the crap out of you and another Naruto that knows a lot more about this time than the old one."_

-WJGW-

"Namikaze-sama!"

Hikaru turned to see Iruka hurrying after him as he walked away from the Academy, "Yes?"

Iruka stopped next to him and looked up, panting slightly from his run to catch up, "Why are you so friendly towards Naruto when everybody else treats him with either hatred or indifference?"

Hikaru considered the man for a long moment before he said, "Naruto is a type of person I know intimately well. Shunned for something he had no control over, rejected and reviled because he keeps something terrible from escaping into the world. Yes," he said, turning his back on the Academy teacher, "I know Naruto's type _very_ well."

Iruka jogged to keep up as the blond walked away, "I'd still like to talk to you, if you please. Would you care for some ramen?"

Ramen. That was the magic word for Hikaru as he turned to Iruka and grinned, "Of course. Lead the way."

Iruka frowned as he noticed something. Grinning like that, Hikaru Namikaze looked astonishingly like a taller, older Naruto Uzumaki. _"I wonder if they're related…" _he thought, before shrugging and discarding the thought. Naruto's father would have to be the Yondaime Hokage for them to be related. And that couldn't be possible, right?

…Right?

-WJGW-

Hikaru and Iruka were having a pleasant conversation in Ichiraku Ramen when Mizuki appeared outside, looking out of breath and panicky, "Iruka! Naruto stole the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage's Tower!"

Iruka looked aghast, "What? This must be a joke!"

Mizuki shook his head, "I wish it were."

Hikaru stood up, playing the part to perfection, even if the other two didn't know that, "Which way did he go?"

Mizuki pointed back across the village, in the other direction to where Hikaru knew he had gone back in his own childhood. He smirked inwardly, _"Nice try, Mizuki-teme, but I know full well you're lying and this time Iruka and I will be there to kill you before you can lay a finger on the younger me!"_

As soon as Mizuki had headed of in the direction of where Naruto was, Hikaru grabbed Iruka's arm and dragged him into an alley, "Hikaru-san, what…?"

"Quiet. Do you trust me, Iruka-san? More accurately, do you trust Naruto?"

"…Of course."

"Then listen. My name is not actually Hikaru Namikaze, nor am I actually the Yondaime's cousin. I'm actually the Yondaime's only son, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, and I was thrown a decade into the past by a complete accident."

Iruka stared at him for a long moment, "…Huh?"

Hikaru sighed, "I can tell you're wondering why I look like an older, taller Naruto Uzumaki. That is because I _am_ Naruto Uzumaki as he will look at twenty-three years old."

Iruka continued to stare for a moment before he seemed to snap back to himself, "Alright. What happens now, then?"

Hikaru smirked, pulling a kunai into one hand, "We follow Mizuki. Hopefully we can find myself before Mizuki does."

"Why before Mizuki does?"

"The bastard's actually working for Orochimaru-teme. He wants the Forbidden Scroll Naruto stole."

"Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?"

"…Please don't confuse me when I'm trying to concentrate. Remembering what happened ten years ago isn't exactly easy you know."

"Sorry. Let's get going then."

"Yup, I'll remember on the way."

The chūnin and newly-minted jōnin headed out of the alley and leapt onto the rooftop, speeding off into the distance.

-WJGW-

Naruto Uzumaki eagerly unrolled the scroll, "Alright, let's see what the first jutsu is… aw man! Kage Bunshin! That's my worst technique! But if I'm going to be the Hokage I have to learn everything I can."

Sitting on the floor, he started to practice.

-WJGW-

It took Iruka and Hikaru about half an hour to finally locate Mizuki and Naruto, by which time the rogue chūnin had already located Naruto and told him to hand over the scroll.

Hikaru sent Iruka to get Naruto while he headed back to warn the Hokage and then return for Mizuki.

He had found the Hokage quite quickly; the man was standing outside the Hokage's Tower at the head of a large group of ninja, issuing commands.

"Hokage-sama!" he called, dropping down to land in a crouch at the man's side.

"Yes, Namikaze-san?" replied the Hokage, noting several shinobi starting at the name.

"Iruka Umino and I located Naruto. It seems that Mizuki, Iruka's assistant at the Academy, tricked Naruto after failing him on the exam. He told him that he would pass if he stole the scroll, learnt a jutsu from it and then showed Iruka or Mizuki the jutsu. Obviously he intends to take the scroll for himself." He gave the Hokage a significant look which plainly said, _"This happened last time, let me deal with it."_

"Very well, you," he pointed at a group of ANBU, "Go with Namikaze-san and apprehend Mizuki. Namikaze-san, do you have any other questions?"

Hikaru took a step forwards and muttered into the Hokage's ear, "Might I be allowed to tell Naruto about his parentage? I suspect that Mizuki will have already told him what he contains, and he might as well know the reason _why_ he has it sealed inside him."

Sarutobi frowned before murmuring back, "As long as you impress on him how important it is that he does not go around boasting about it, I'm fine with it."

Hikaru adopted a playfully insulted expression, "What do you take me… him… for?"

Sarutobi chuckled, before handing the blond jōnin a Leaf headband he had produced from somewhere, "Get going."

Hikaru took the headband and turned to the ANBU, "Follow me!"

He vanished in a shunshin, followed by the ANBU.

-WJGW-

Hikaru and the ANBU arrived to find about three hundred Naruto-clones surrounding Mizuki, who was lying on the ground and looking very battered. As half the ANBU split off to tend to Iruka, who lay at the foot of a tree some distance away, and the rest moved to apprehend Mizuki, Hikaru headed to Naruto.

"Na-Namikaze-sama," mumbled Naruto, looking down at the floor as his clones apparently realized the tension of the situation and dispelled, causing the boy to wince.

Hikaru didn't waste time on more words than were necessary. He stared at the boy and said, "Come with me. You're staying at my house tonight."

The boy stared at him for a long moment before he nodded and took the proffered hand. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

-WJGW-

They landed outside Hikaru's house and Naruto found himself being quickly rushed inside.

Once he was sat in an armchair in the living room and Hikaru was seated opposite him, he started.

"I understand that Mizuki told you something of great importance tonight."

"Yeah. I don't care though."

"And you shouldn't. Being the container of the Kyūbi no Kitsune is nothing to be ashamed of. You prevent it from razing the village to the ground, and that is an honourable task. The thing you don't know, however, is _why_ you were selected."

Naruto perked up, "You know why I was used as the container?"

Hikaru nodded, "Yes I do. You know I mentioned that I was the cousin of the Fourth Hokage?"

"Yes…?"

"Well, that makes us second cousins. Naruto, the reason you were selected was because my cousin couldn't in good conscience use another family's child as the vessel, when he could use his own son."

Naruto's jaw dropped, "Y-You mean I'm…"

"…the Yondaime's son, and my second cousin? Yes. But Naruto, I must impress on you that you do not walk around boasting about this."

Naruto looked insulted, "What kind of a person do you take me for? I'm not the Uchiha!"

Hikaru chuckled, "Good answer. Looks like I don't have to beat some sense into you after all."

He stood up and stretched, only to notice something rigid in his pocket and take it out, "Oh yeah… Naruto? The Hokage wanted me to give you this as a reward for helping apprehend the traitor Mizuki." He threw the headband to the boy, who caught it and grinned, tying it around his head. "Oh yeah, and this is for you as a way of remembering your father." He unbuckled the sheathed ninjatō's strap and held it out to Naruto, who took it and started to buckle it around his chest. He fumbled with the clasp for a long moment before Hikaru chuckled and knelt in front of him to help. As soon as the strap was fastened, Hikaru stood up and said, "Now, where's your place? We need to pick up all your stuff."

Naruto's eyes widened, "You mean…"

Hikaru grinned, "Yep. You can stay here with me if you want."

Naruto grinned, "Great!" Then he frowned, "What rank ninja are you by the way?"

Hikaru smirked, "Jōnin-sensei. I get my first team tomorrow; maybe we'll end up on a team together."

Naruto grinned, "I hope so… nii-san."

Hikaru headed for the door, "So, shall we go and get all of your stuff?"

Naruto shrugged, "There isn't really anything I value at home. Everything I really value I keep on me, which isn't much anyway."

"Ah, that'd be because the villagers don't like you, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he yawned.

Hikaru chuckled and ruffled his younger self's hair, "Time to sleep, little man."

Naruto scowled, "I'm not tired."

"Then why yawn little guy?"

"I'm not little!"

"Whatever kid, we gotta get up early tomorrow. I've got to see the Hokage and you've got to be there early for team placement. Hit the rack, now."

Naruto sighed before heading upstairs. Hikaru waited a couple of minutes before he followed.

-WJGW-

The next morning, Hikaru roused Naruto and dropped him off at the Academy in time for the team placements while he went off to the Hokage's Tower, though for what reason he wouldn't say.

Therefore, Naruto just sat down in the classroom and waited calmly for the other people to arrive.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto turned around to see Kiba Inuzuka, his friend in the class, grinning, "Sorry Naruto, but this class is for the people who actually graduated as ninja."

Naruto turned fully towards the boy, thumbing his headband, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm wearing a hitai-ate. That means I'm a ninja, I got my hitai-ate last night."

"Oh really? Does it have anything to do with what my mum was saying about Mizuki-sensei getting arrested?"

"Well, yeah."

"Oh, alright." Kiba hesitated, then sat down in the chair next to Naruto and said, "My mum also mentioned that there's a new jōnin in town. Apparently he's the Yondaime's cousin."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, he's my…" but suddenly remembed Hikaru's words from the previous night about not talking about his relation to the Yondaime, quickly covering for himself by saying, "…friend."

Kiba frowned, "Really?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. He gave me this," he reached back over his shoulder and tapped the hilt of the ninjatō strapped to his back.

Kiba glanced at the weapon, "Cool."

For the next half hour, the rest of their graduation class filed in one by one. A couple of them noticed that Naruto was there, but the majority just ignored him. Finally Iruka came in, holding a large clipboard. "Alright you lot," he said, "I'm going to read out the team placements now. You'd better listen to me, all of you, because I'm only going to say this _once_."

He consulted his clipboard, "Team 10 under Asuma Sarutobi: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi. Team 9 is still in circulation from last year, so I'm going to go straight on Team 8. Team 8 under Kurenai Yūhi: Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Sakura Haruno. And finally Team 7 under Hikaru Namikaze: Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyūga…"

The pale-eyed girl sitting at the back of the room cowered slightly at the concentrated killing intents fixed on her from the members of the Sasuke fan-club.

Iruka paused for a minute, noticing the killing intents, "And if any of you tries to hurt your fellow kunoichi just because she happens to be on the same team as the Uchiha, I will be speaking to your families about your conduct. Anyway, the final member of Team 7 is Naruto Uzumaki. Your jōnin-senseis will be here to collect you soon."

"Hey!" shouted Sakura Haruno, standing up, "I thought it was meant to be the highest scoring students together with the dead-last baka! There's no way the Hyūga's smarter than me! Besides, that bitch better keep her hands off _my_… Sasuke… -kun…"

The pink-haired girl paled as she became aware of the blade of a katana pressing against her jugular vein, which was followed by a soft voice behind her, "Now, Haruno-san, would you care to explain _why_ you are insulting one of my genin and threatening the other…?"

Sakura seemed not to learn from the fact that Hikaru Namikaze had a very sharp weapon pressed against her throat, "You'd _better_ be a good sensei for my Sasuke-kun!"

Hikaru snorted, "I'm being threatened by a pink-haired little fangirl. Oh no, whatever am I going to do…?" He disappeared in a shunshin and reappeared at the front of the room next to Iruka, sheathing his katana and smirking, "Alright brats, which one of you is Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sasuke raised a hand, looking bored. Hikaru smirked at him, "How do you put up with her all the time?"

Sasuke gave a very small smirk back, "It's hard. Ignoring all of them like this has always been difficult for me."

Hikaru walked across to the boy's desk and crouched down in front of it, chuckling, "You know, I really thought you were going to be an arrogant little squirt, but you seem ok."

Sasuke frowned, evidently wondering if it was a compliment or not.

Hikaru stood up, "Right, which one of you is Hinata Hyūga then? And pinkie, if you say anything against the kunoichi under my charge, I'm going to ask your jōnin-sensei for permission to use you as kunai practice for my genin. It'd be nice to be able to give them a moving target to practice on." Sakura paled and closed her mouth.

At the back of the room, Hinata hesitantly raised her hand. Hikaru smiled at her for a minute before calling out to them, "Alright, all three of you follow me!"

He headed for the door, followed by the three genin.

-WJGW-

"Alright then you three, what are your likes, dislikes, hobbies, ambitions, etc? Sasuke, you first!"

The black-haired Uchiha scowled, "I like learning new jutsu, I dislike fangirls, my hobbies are training and taking walks and my ambition is to kill my brother and revive my clan."

Hikaru smiled at him, as usual playing dumb, "And your brother is…? Pardon me but I'm new to the area so I don't really know a lot about the Leaf's history apart from what my cousin's told me in letters. Unfortunately whatever happened to your clan happened after his death so I have no idea."

Sasuke frowned, "My brother is Itachi Uchiha; he killed everybody then used some kind of genjutsu to torture me. That was about eight years ago now… what's that?" One of his eyebrows went up as he saw Hikaru holding a small book and flipping through it.

"It's a Bingo Book, many high-ranked ninja carry these to find out about enemy missing-nin they might face while in the line of duty. For example this guy, Zabuza Momochi, he's known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist and used to be in the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Tried to kill the Yondaime Mizukage before defecting, so his bounty is going to be pretty high, and here it is: 10,000 ryō. Neat, high A-rank."

"Wow…" murmured Sasuke, impressed, "How high is my brother's?"

"Ummmm…" Hikaru leafed through the book to the U's, before he found the entry, "Ah, here we go. Itachi Uchiha… whoa. S-rank missing-nin from Konohagakure no Sato, massacred the entire Uchiha clan in a single night… impressive. Oh sorry, that sounded really insensitive. Anyway, his bounty is… goodness me, 30,000 ryō." He stared down at Sasuke, "Let me impress on you now then, Sasuke. If you must take on your brother, don't do it without help, and not until you've at least reached jōnin or ANBU level. I know you already know this, but your brother is an S-ranked missing-nin, you do _not_ want to take him on unless you have a lot of very powerful jutsu under your belt and a full team to back you up. Alone, you would be killed in minutes. Teamwork is everything in our profession; all of you should remember that."

"…_And you'll need a way to counter the freakin' Mangekyō Sharingan as well, that asshole was such a thorn in my side before he died, and Madara still was until I ended up back here."_

Sasuke frowned, "Will you help me do that?"

Hikaru grinned, "I'm your jōnin-sensei, what do you think? However I do have my own stuff to learn. I have to learn to use this;" he flicked the hilt of his katana with one finger, "And I'm also intending to learn a couple of other things for myself, one of which would be invaluable in such a fight. Anyway, we're going off-track. Hinata?"

The dark-haired girl jumped before poking her fingertips together. Naruto sighed; "Ok, evidently this is going to take a while. Hinata, I'm sorry, but you are going to have to drop that habit. You can't be an effective kunoichi if you're too meek and timid."

Hinata flinched slightly and nodded, "O-Okay."

Hikaru pinched the bridge of his nose slightly, closing his eyes, "Hinata, I'm not going to hurt you if I get disappointed. Granted I may end up a little bad-tempered but I'm never going to hurt you. It's obvious you have some issues with confidence and self-esteem so let me say this now, you may be the single best Hyūga I have ever met, and I've met a fair few. They all have that stick-up-my-ass attitude, and you don't. In my opinion, that makes you a decent person."

Hinata blushed slightly. Hikaru gave her a small smile, "Anyway, Hinata, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and ambitions?"

Hinata poked her fingers together with a soft whimper before she said, "I like…" she blushed and looked at Naruto, who gave her a comforting smile and caused her to blush even harder, "I dislike people who treat others badly just because they're different. My hobby is pressing flowers. My ambition is to prove I can be a strong kunoichi."

Hikaru smiled, "There, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, Naruto."

Naruto grinned toothily, "My likes are ramen and training, my dislikes are people who dislike me for things I had no control over, my hobbies are pulling pranks, learning new jutsu and watering plants, and my ambition is to become a Hokage surpassing even the Yondaime!"

Hikaru grinned, "Right then, all three of you can have the rest of the day off. Do any of you know what your affinities are?"

Sasuke raised his hand, "I have a fire affinity; it's an Uchiha trait. I currently know about three C-rank Katon jutsu, but that's it."

Hikaru nodded, turning to the other two, "I'll pick up some chakra paper for you two. Naruto, I suspect I might know what your affinities are already but I'd still like to check. Hinata, I know you have your Jyūken to learn, but I would actually like you to learn something other than that. If you were to come up against an enemy who has the ability to block your Jyūken, at least you should have the ability to knock him down with an elemental jutsu when the guy isn't expecting it."

The girl nodded quietly. Naruto grinned at the three of them before standing up, "I need to get moving. I have several stops to make before I can turn in. Oh and by the way, I want all of you at Training Ground #5 at five a.m. Don't eat any breakfast or you'll end up hurling during the test, got it?"

All three of them nodded at once, before Hikaru smiled again and said, "Then, I will see you in the morning, or in Naruto's case, this evening. See you." He vanished in a shunshin.

-WJGW-

Hiruzen Sarutobi was doing some paperwork when he heard a sound, only to look up and find Hikaru Namikaze standing opposite him with a smirk on his face, "They're all good kids. Sasuke's nothing like he was in my time, it's odd. I think it was Kakashi's indifference that clinched it back then. I spoke to him on common ground and he responded positively. I did have to make a couple of promises however."

"Like what?"

"I had to promise him that I would help him slay Itachi Uchiha. It was the only way I could stop him from pursuing the man alone."

"Very well. I believe there was something else you needed?"

"There was. I would like to learn my cousin's signature jutsu, the Hiraishin."

Sarutobi thought for a minute before he smiled, "That sounds reasonable. Naruto will need somebody who can teach him that at a later date, and I take it you already know Minato's other signature jutsu…?"

"You mean the Rasengan? Indeed I do, and I completed it back in my world as well. I don't know whether I'll let him work it out on his own though, or just show him the completed jutsu. The problem with the completed version is that it damages the user a little as well."

Sarutobi nodded, before he walked over to the portrait of the Yondaime Hokage, beckoning Hikaru to follow him. Knowing what to do, he bit his thumb and swiped it across the base of the portrait, deactivating the seal.

The portrait swung open on a hinge, revealing an open space behind it. Within the space lay several objects; two scrolls and a small pile of tri-pronged kunai. Picking up the kunai and sealing them into a scroll, he pocketed the scrolls, swung the picture back, thanked the Hokage and headed out to Takeshi Wares.

"Hello?" he called as he entered.

Tensu came out of the back room and grinned when he saw the blond, "Ah, Namikaze-sama! I was wondering when you'd come by. We've had a recent influx of orders and requests from our various patrons, so I'm afraid I cannot teach you and your relative how to use those weapons like I originally intended to. I can however supply you both with scrolls showing the various forms and moves, I hope that will be enough until our workload eases up."

Hikaru grinned, "Of course, Tensu-san, that is perfect."

Tensu smiled at him, before a thought struck him, "You do know that after your little stunt in here yesterday, my daughter's become quite taken with you?"

Hikaru laughed, "I wonder if I could persuade her that my cousin is more her style?"

Tensu gave him an odd look, "Your cousin is dead."

Hikaru chuckled, "Wrong cousin. I meant my second cousin, the relative I was talking about."

"Ah, and he is…?"

"That's my secret. All I'll say is that everybody's going to be _really_ shocked when they find out his identity."

Tensu smirked, "Just as fun-loving and mysterious as your cousin, Hikaru-san."

Hikaru simply chuckled in reply, "Anyway, those scrolls?"

"Ah, here you go." The weaponsmith walked over to the counter and leaned down behind it, eventually extricating a neat stack of six scrolls tied together with a large ribbon, "The top three are for you, the bottom three are for your relative."

Hikaru nodded, then thought of something and reached into a pocket to tug out a sealing scroll, from which he unsealed a single tri-pointed kunai.

Placing the kunai on the counter he asked, "Can you replicate this?"

Tensu picked up the kunai and examined it, particularly the seal array on the handle, "What is it?"

"You know what my cousin's nickname was. Right?"

"The Yellow Flash, why… wait, these are how he did that?"

"Yes. I will need to make my own seal array since this one is keyed to his blood, but I need some blanks to work with."

"Alright, I guess I can manage that. Do you mind if I put Tenten in charge of this project? I think it will be good practice for when she takes over as owner of this shop."

Hikaru smiled, "Of course. It's important to learn new things." He stretched, "I would guess it's a simple matter of making a mould, finding out the proper mixture of metals which will make the metal strong enough to withstand the pressures of open combat, then pouring that mixture of liquid metals into the mould and waiting for it to cool. Then you can start honing the edges to make sure they're sharp, and making the handle, right?"

Tensu stared blankly at him for a long moment, "Did you do this back in… wherever it was you came from? Because that was pretty much the textbook description of the procedure."

"Uzushio. I grew up there. Heh, my cousin never stopped thanking me for accidentally getting his wife sent to the Konoha Academy where they met. I pranked her family one too many times and they moved to Konoha to escape me. Her name was… Kushina, I think."

"Kushina?" said Tensu, looking up from where he was still examining the kunai, "Kushina… Uzumaki?"

Hikaru's head snapped up and he stared at the man, who grinned, "Your reaction gave the answer away. Is your mystery relative the boy known as Naruto Uzumaki, by any chance?"

Hikaru's eyes widened this time, prompting the man's grin to widen even more further, "You really have to learn to mask your emotions, Hikaru-sama. So Naruto Uzumaki is the mystery relative you've been referring to for the last couple of days. I take it that means that as Kushina and Naruto share the same last name, they must be related. There is also the little matter of your claim that the blond hair and blue eyes you display to the world is in fact a family trait. In that case you and Naruto, who happens to look almost exactly like you and Minato, must be related as well."

He leaned on the counter and smirked at Hikaru, "Is Naruto Minato's son?"

Hikaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair, prompting a laugh from the weaponsmith, "Now I definitely know you're a relative of Minato; he had exactly the same habit when he was depressed or preoccupied."

"Was there any doubt, considering I know about his two unique jutsu and I'm fully capable of one of them?"

"Fair point. Anyway, I won't breathe a word about Naruto being your second cousin and Minato's son."

"Thanks, Tensu-san."

He suddenly had a brief feeling of foreboding in the back of his mind, so he cricked his neck and said, "I'll be going. I have a feeling that one of my genin is being harassed."

Tensu laughed, picking up the kunai and holding it up on a level with his eyes, "Go on, Hikaru-sama."

Hikaru nodded once and vanished in a shunshin.

-WJGW-

Hinata, meanwhile, was being held up against a wall by Sakura, Ino and the other members of the Sasuke Uchiha fan-club. "Listen up, you bitch!" snarled Sakura, pushing the pale-eyed girl up against the wall with one hand at her neck, "You stay away from Sasuke-kun!"

Hinata was trembling with fear; she couldn't help it. The multitude of killing intents focussed on her was scaring her, and all she could do was stammer denials of what the pink-haired girl was accusing her of. She doubled over as Ino Yamanaka punched her in the stomach.

The girls were all so intent on scaring Hinata off that none of them heard the faint sound of a katana being drawn from its sheath until a voice from the entrance to the alley said in a quiet and utterly _deadly _tone, "And what is all this about?"

The girls turned as one to see a tall figure holding a sharp blade standing between them and their only exit. Sakura, who had already been threatened by this person once, paled and stammered, "Na-Namikaze-sama!"

Hikaru glared at the fangirls, who quailed under his glare as one, "And what, Sakura Haruno, did I say I would do if I saw you antagonizing any one of my genin again?"

"You've misunderstood, Namikaze-sama!" shouted Ino, evidently stepping up to her pink-haired fellow's aid, "We were just having a conversation with Hinata about what Sasuke-kun is like when he speaks!"

Hikaru's eyes flashed, "And the punch in the stomach, Yamanaka? What was that in aid of?"

Ino paled as well. Her muffled excuses fell on deaf ears as Hikaru stalked through the fangirls to Hinata's side, helping her stand upright and gently escorting her to the entrance to the alley. As he stepped out into the street he turned back to the girls, "If any of you harasses any of my students again, whether it be Sasuke, Naruto or Hinata, because you are too wrapped up in your little obsessions to consider their feelings, I will be speaking not only to your jōnin-senseis or Academy teachers, but I will also find out where you live and talk to your parents. Let me emphasize this; do not mess with me or my genin." Without waiting for an answer he walked away with Hinata.

-WJGW-

Hikaru insisted on walking Hinata back to the compound, citing the reason being that as her prospective jōnin-sensei he should at least make sure she was safe.

Therefore, when he arrived at the gates of the Hyūga compound, he instantly felt several killing intents being levelled at him. "My name is Hikaru Namikaze," he said, "I'm here to drop off Hinata Hyūga. If possible I would also like to talk to your clan head about something."

The guards glared at Hikaru for a long moment before they nodded and opened the gate.

Hikaru and Hinata were escorted through to the main yard in the middle of the compound, where they waited for Hiashi Hyūga. The man eventually arrived, scrutinizing Hinata before turning his pale eyes on Hikaru.

Mentally, Hikaru thanked Kami that back in his time, he had assimilated the Kyūbi soon after being banished from the Leaf Village, which deconstructed his seal but left him with the benefits he had received from the Kyūbi ever since his birth. If any of the Hyūga had used their Byakugan to look at him and seen the Kyūbi, things were going to have gone to shit pretty quickly.

"Hinata," said Hiashi curtly, "Why have you been escorted home by a jōnin?"

Hikaru scowled; he hadn't really appreciated how Hinata had been treated by her clan back in his own time and he'd be damned if he was going to put up with it again this time, "I escorted her home because as her jōnin-sensei I was concerned for her safety after rescuing her from being set upon by a large number of Sasuke Uchiha's fan-girls just for happening to have been placed on the same team as him."

Hiashi turned his eyes on the blond, his glare enhanced by the lack of pupils, "And you are?"

Hikaru snorted, "Apparently your guards saw no point in telling you my name when I declared myself at your gates. My name is Hikaru Namikaze, cousin of Minato Namikaze, the late Yondaime Hokage."

Hiashi's eyes widened slightly, before he recovered, "I… am honoured, Namikaze-sama. What brings you to my home other than my errant daughter?"

Hikaru bristled slightly, "Hinata is not an errant girl. What I had to rescue her was unprovoked on her part, she is not to blame. However I do have other reasons for coming here today, which I would discuss in private."

Hiashi nodded and suggested that Hinata return to her room for the night, before beckoning to Hikaru and striding towards his office.

As soon as the two men were seated on either side of Hiashi's desk, Hikaru began, "Alright, as you know I am Hinata's sensei. I am also a Namikaze, and the sensei of Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki as well. What I would ask of you is, would you be willing to allow me to take copies of your Jyūken scrolls so that I may teach Hinata? Obviously as they have yet to pass a test to prove they are worthy of being genin I will not require the scrolls just yet, but I would like to be prepared since I am at least halfway confident that they can pass this test."

Hiashi stared at him for a long moment, "You have no Byakugan, so how…?"

Hikaru chuckled, "I don't need a Byakugan. I do have the ability to reopen my tenketsu, as does Naruto, so we won't have to worry about that. I do however know the basic theory; you push chakra out of the tenketsu in your fingers and force it into your enemy's tenketsu to seal them. I may not have the Byakugan but I can achieve the same effect provided I know exactly where to aim, which isn't often. Usually I prefer more physical methods of fighting, no offence meant."

"None taken. This does sound like a good idea, though. Normally when one of my clan gets onto a genin team the sensei just throws them back to us and expects us to train them."

Hikaru shrugged, "Yeah well, I believe in working on them myself. By the way, would Hinata be criticized by your clan if I were to teach her other things besides her Jyūken? Pardon me for saying this but I think the Hyūga do have a rather limited training plan."

Hiashi shrugged, the most informal gesture Hikaru had ever seen the Hyūga clan head perform, "It's true. I've told the elders time and again that we're limiting our abilities too much by sticking only to the Jyūken, but they never listen. Out of interest, what _were_ you planning to teach Hinata?"

"Well, one idea I had was if I can help her come up with a couple of her own Jyūken moves, maybe one which can permanently destroy an opponent's tenketsu instead of just closing them. Another, I can get her started on medical ninjutsu, any medic-nin would kill to have such eyes… oh sorry, poor choice of words."

Hiashi flapped a hand dismissively, now very interested in this blond person. He seemed willing to confront each of the Hyūga clan practice's weaknesses and counter them. "Anything else?"

"Well, the medical ninjutsu idea ties into my first idea about destroying tenketsu. What effect would a chakra scalpel have on a tenketsu?"

"It would destroy it… I see where you're coming from now."

"I also intended to start her off on elemental training. Depending on her affinities she could prove a very intimidating enemy in the long run."

"Isn't it a little early to start them off on that?"

"I believe in starting early. By the way… Hinata obviously has slight self-esteem and confidence issues. Is there any reason for that, or is it just her natural manner?"

Hiashi looked irritable, "She used to be a brave and outspoken girl before the Hyūga Affair…"

"The Hyūga Affair?" Hikaru's confusion was genuine this time; he remembered Neji explaining what had happened to him at the Chūnin Exams just before the Sound-Sand invasion, but since that was about nine years ago now, he couldn't remember most of the details.

"Yes. Under the pretence of offering a treaty, Kumogakure attempted to kidnap Hinata. I chased down and killed the kidnapper myself, but Kumo demanded my head in revenge. My brother Hizashi, who was at the time the head of the Branch family, insisted that his head go in place of mine, as we look identical. He sacrificed himself to protect the secrets of our Byakugan."

"But wouldn't they have just used his Byakugan?"

"No. Since I was the older sibling, my brother was branded with the Caged Bird Seal which is not only a method of protecting the secrets of our Byakugan as when the Branch family member dies his Byakugan is sealed but also a method of controlling the Branch family members. I dislike such methods, personally."

"What does this have to do with Hinata?"

"Well, since they tried to kidnap her, the elders have been insisting I brand her with the Cursed Seal and make my other daughter Hanabi my heir. Apparently she is too weak to be the Hyūga clan head, though how a five-year-old child is supposed to stop a fully trained jōnin is beyond me. Over time, their constant and blatant dislike of Hinata, insulting her in public, making her feel like less than dirt, made her behave like she does now."

"I have an idea."

"What?"

"See, Hokage-sama told me that since I am currently the closest living relative of my cousin's generation, I'm legally the head of the Namikaze clan. Also, I take it you know of Naruto Uzumaki?"

"The Yondaime's son, yes."

Hikaru's eyes widened, "You… you know about that?"

Hiashi gave him a sardonic look, "The boy looks exactly like my old friend, I know what his wife's name was because I was friends with both of them and Minato's team-mate besides and also, it was logical to assume that Minato would have used his own son to seal the beast."

Hikaru snorted, "I thought the Aburame were the logical clan?"

Hiashi smiled thinly, "We can all dabble in logic occasionally. Anyway, what were you saying about the Uzumaki?"

"Well, as Naruto is technically a member of the Namikaze clan of which I am head, and Hinata is a member of the Hyūga clan of which you are head, might we be able to stall the elders' insistence that she be branded by hashing out a betrothal contract? It doesn't even necessarily have to be fulfilled, just as a way to keep Hinata safe."

Hiashi stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head, "You are a very smart person, Namikaze."

"Please, Hikaru."

"Alright then, _Hikaru-san_. Let us get down to business, pulling one over on the elders of this clan."

The two men settled back into their chairs and began hashing out the details of the betrothal contract to ensure that the elders would be wrapped up in so many legal knots that they couldn't force the seal on Hinata.

-WJGW-

Hikaru headed home later that evening feeling very satisfied. He had obtained scrolls for Hinata to learn her Jyūken with, he had managed to find out a lot that he hadn't known or had forgotten the last time around and as a side he had got his younger self started on getting a girl, seeing as (he thought ruefully) he'd never realize that Hinata had a crush on him otherwise. He had truly been an idiot in his youth.

As he walked down the street, he idly wondered whether he should bring Jiraiya in on the secret so that he could get his younger self to sign the toad summoning contract. Remembering that he himself would not be able to summon toads anymore since he no longer had the contract after coming back in time, he couldn't help wondering how, then, he had been able to activate Sage Mode the other day. Resolving to work it out at a later date, Hikaru started thinking about possibly making a contract just for the Namikaze clan and was busy pondering what it could be with when he spotted something curled up on the step of his house.

"Oh! Naruto, I'm sorry, I forgot you don't have a key to get in!"

Naruto stood up, scowling, "Yeah, I don't. About time you got here, where've you been?"

"Busy. Doing a few things." He unlocked the door and walked into the house without elaborating.

Naruto followed, grumbling, "Come on! What have you been doing? By the way, what's the test tomorrow about?"

"Not saying, it'd spoil the surprise. All I will say is that I hinted at the key to finishing the test this morning."

"When was that?"

"That, dear Naruto, you will have to figure out alone. Now, I went over to Takeshi Wares earlier and picked up some scrolls so that we can learn how to use these," he reached up and flicked his katana with one finger.

Naruto grinned broadly, "That's awesome!" He reached for the stack of scrolls, but Hikaru lifted them out of reach, "Naruto."

Naruto gazed at the scrolls, the tips of his fingers twitching ever so slightly, "Yes?"

"I want you to promise me that if anybody ever antagonizes you in the village, you will not draw your sword on them. You will come and find me and tell me what the problem is so that I can deal with it, but you will not fight back unless they are trying to kill you. Understand?"

Naruto nodded, and Hikaru threw him the ninjatō scroll labelled Level 1.

Naruto was just opening it when his stomach rumbled. Hikaru chuckled, "Hungry?"

Naruto nodded sheepishly before looking up at the taller blond with a pleading expression, "Can we go have ramen?"

Hikaru ruffled his hair, "Sure. It's been ages since I had a lovely bowl of ramen, the other evening with your friend Iruka not counting since I got interrupted."

Naruto whooped and sprinted for the door, the scroll still in his hand.

"Naruto?" He stopped and turned back.

Hikaru had his sheathed katana in one hand and was sniggering, "You're still holding your scroll and still wearing your ninjatō. I think we should leave them here, otherwise your friends in Ichiraku's might think you're threatening them!"

"Nah they won't." He turned back towards the door only to freeze at a sudden killing intent.

"Naruto… leave the sword here. _Now._"

Obediently, Naruto returned to the table and laid his sheathed ninjatō on it, with the scroll next to it.

Hikaru grinned, "Good boy. Let's go."

-WJGW-

"Two Hokage-size miso ramen, Teuchi-san!" said a deep voice behind Teuchi, who turned to see two almost identical figures sitting on chairs at the bar.

His head rotated from one to the other for a moment before fixing on the taller one, "And you are?"

The man grinned, "Hikaru Namikaze, at your service. I'm a friend of Naruto's and possibly his sensei depending on how this little tyke does in the test tomorrow." He ruffled the aforementioned littler blond's hair affectionately where he sat next to him, who pouted.

Teuchi nodded and grinned before saying, "If your appetite's anything like Naruto's, I'm going to run out of stock before we can satisfy both of you. Ayame! I need your help out here!"

The small brunette came running out of the back room. She instantly blushed when she laid eyes on Hikaru, who sighed inwardly. He knew that he was almost the spitting image of Minato Namikaze except for the whisker marks, and that the Yondaime had been a lady-killer in his day, but he could really do without all the people drooling over him. It was becoming troublesome- _"Oh god!" _he thought in a panic, _"Now I'm turning into a Nara as well! There's no hope for me!"_

Teuchi turned to his daughter, "Ayame, put on the burners. We have Naruto and a relative of his who seems a lot like him appetite-wise so we're going to have our work cut out tonight!"

Ayame grinned happily before going to ignite the burners.

"I believe we've met," commented Teuchi as he placed two bowls of ramen down on the bar.

"We have," replied Hikaru, drinking in the smell of the miso ramen with a look of bliss on his face, "I was here with Iruka Umino the other night."

Teuchi thought for a second, "Oh yes."

Hikaru settled into his bowl, and immediately started competing with Naruto to see who could eat the most bowls.

-WJGW-

Teuchi and Ayame gaped at the two blond men sitting on the other side of the bar. Finally Ayame broke the silence by saying, "That… really shouldn't be physically possible. And I thought I'd been proven wrong on that score once before by Naruto."

Teuchi shook his head, "Ayame, go make a sign saying, "Closed due to lack of supplies following Uzumaki-Namikaze ramen spree." We're out of stock, I don't think we'll be opening tomorrow."

Ayame nodded and scampered out of the room. Teuchi smiled at the two blondes, "That amounts to… 3,450 ryō. I will never understand how you people can eat this much ramen at one sitting. Not that I'm complaining, now I'll be able to pay off the rent I owe the Akimichi for this stand. They charge absurd rates and I'm a couple of months in arrears as it is."

As Hikaru dug into his pockets for the bills to pay for their meal, Ayame came out and smiled at the two of them, "Thanks guys, tou-san's been having problems with…" but she was cut off by a group of people pushing through the flaps.

"Hey, old man! You got your rent yet? We gave you an extra two months!" One of them shouted, before shoving Naruto aside so that he fell off his chair, "Out of my way, demon brat!"

The man blinked, suddenly finding a kunai pressed against his throat courtesy of Hikaru, "And you are…?"

Hikaru smirked, "Hikaru Namikaze. Yeah, _that_ Namikaze. Now, you're harassing a good friend of mine, which means you will be leaving now."

The man snorted, "You think you're going to stop us?"

Hikaru gave him a pleasant smile, raising his empty hand and charging a Rasengan, "Oh no, I don't think so. I _know _I'm going to stop you, and I _know_ that you will be leaving. Right now."

The man chuckled, raising a hand to punch Hikaru, but Hikaru swiftly slammed the Rasengan into the man's gut and sent him flying backwards out of the ramen bar. He crashed into a lamppost on the other side of the street and slid to the foot of it, not moving. Hikaru turned his gave on the other men, "You will stay there for a minute, while I get out enough money for the rent owed."

The men didn't dare move while Hikaru turned back to Teuchi and said, "How much?"

"It's 1,000 a month, I'm two months in arrears plus this month's rent so that's 3,000 ryō.

Hikaru sorted out the bills and handed them to one of the men, "Take these to your boss and tell him that harassing the Ichiraku family is not a good idea. Your friend, on the other hand…" he grinned, causing the men to shiver, "He insulted my little friend and for that he shall pay the price." He suddenly scrutinized the men, "Why are you still here?"

The men left so fast they seemed to leave images of themselves behind as Hikaru cracked his knuckles and turned to Teuchi and Ayame, "Shut down for the night, I'll make some shadow clones to deal with the dirty dishes. Me and Naruto here have pranking to do."

Naruto whooped as they headed out of the bar and approached the unconscious thug.

The man would be found the next day, hogtied and almost completely naked but for his pants, hanging from a flagpole in the middle of the village the next morning, gagged with his own socks and with the word NAMIKAZE'D tattooed on his forehead, stomach and backside.

-WJGW-

The next morning, Naruto met up with Hinata and Sasuke on the training field. Sasuke looked reasonably alert, Hinata was yawning slightly. Naruto was the only one fully awake, and that was because Hikaru had dragged him out of bed and dunked his head in a tub of ice cold water to wake him up. The taller man had then left Naruto spluttering on the floor, saying he needed to collect a couple of things first.

"Hello, you three." All three turned to see Hikaru walking towards them, his katana on his back and a small smile on his face.

"Morning, sensei…" yawned Hinata, trying hard to wake up before the test began.

Hikaru smiled at the girl, "Just so you know, from now on we won't be up this early to train so this is a one-off. Now, what you three have to do in this test is try and get these bells off me," he held up two toy bells, "Before midday."

"Ano, but sensei…" said Hinata, blushing when the jōnin's full attention centred on her, "There are only two bells."

"I was getting to that, but good observation Hinata. Now, you will have to fight me in an attempt to get these bells off me. If you do manage to get the bells, whoever doesn't have a bell gets tied to the stumps behind you, has to watch me eat their lunch in front of them… and gets sent back to the Academy."

All three stared at him, and he could almost see the wheels turning inside their heads. Naruto, surprisingly, was the one to get it first. _"So, that's what he meant last night. When we first met as a team he said, "Teamwork is everything in our profession"; I think that means we're supposed to work together as a team to get the bells off him."_

Hikaru made a show of hanging the bells on his belt, smirking as he saw the eyes of all three genin following them. Finally, he straightened up, punched a button on the timer and turned back to them.

He met their eyes; cerulean, lavender and onyx for a long moment before he said, "The test will now begin. Go!" and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

**(A/N: …And thus ends the first chapter of When Jutsu Go Wrong. I'm eager to hear your opinions on this fic idea I had while working on Both Sides of the Kunai, so drop me a review saying what you think. Also, go read the two fics I mentioned at the start of the story, you will probably be very entertained. I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll see you when I either update Kunai (I'm about 3-4k words into the next chapter, and I want at least 10-12k before I post) or when I update this. Thank you all for reading and GOODNIGHT!)**


	2. Bells and Bloodlines

When Jutsu Go Wrong

Chapter 2: Bells and Bloodlines

_He met their eyes; cerulean, lavender and onyx for a long moment before he said, "The test will now begin. Go!" and vanished in a swirl of leaves._

Naruto instantly took charge, "What are we going to do?"

Hinata poked the tips of her fingers together, "Ano…"

Naruto and Sasuke both stared at her and said, "What?"

Hinata swallowed, blushing slightly before she said, "Didn't Hikaru-sensei say yesterday that teamwork was important in our profession? Maybe he was giving us a clue."

You could almost see each boy's brains grinding slightly as they thought for a long moment before Naruto said, "You're right, he _did_ say last night that he had already hinted at the key to beating the test yesterday morning."

Sasuke smirked, "Then let's get going, if we're going to get those bells before noon, then we've got to find him first. Hinata, what can you see with your Byakugan?"

The Hyūga didn't respond, instead she activated her Byakugan and looked around. Finally she pointed and said, "He's in that direction."

All three immediately took off.

Hikaru was setting up a number of traps when the three genin erupted from the bushes and attacked him. Well, Naruto and Sasuke attacked, Hinata stayed back.

Hikaru knocked both boys aside and stared at Hinata, "Hinata, if you're going to be a good kunoichi you are going to have to take the offensive. Come on, attack me!"

Hinata stared back, shaking slightly, so Hikaru repeated himself, "I said, ATTACK ME! Do you want to be a kunoichi?"

Hinata nodded shakily, and Hikaru continued, "Then stand and fight! Attack me with the intent to kill, _NOW_!"

Hinata still did not react as Naruto and Sasuke stood up and watched. Hikaru folded his arms, "Hinata, imagine I am an enemy shinobi. Imagine that Naruto and Sasuke are both unconscious, and the enemy has them at kunai-point. Imagine that you are the only person who can save them both, and the only way to do that is by fighting."

He adopted a vile smirk, "Oh look, little kunoichi, your friends are both unconscious. Shall we kill them in front of you? Or shall we enjoy ourselves with you first?"

Hinata shivered slightly, then took a deep breath… and seemed to vanish.

Hikaru only just managed to react fast enough to avoid getting a chakra spike to the chest by channelling chakra to his legs and leaping straight up in the air. As he hung in the air, his heart almost stopped as he heard Sasuke's voice, "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

Pulling off a rapid Kawarimi to avoid the fireball, Hikaru suddenly found himself surrounded by shadow clones of Naruto. Flashing through hand seals, he yelled, "Wind Release: Circle of Slicing Death!" causing blades of wind chakra to fly out from his body and slice through all the clones.

Naruto cursed before creating more clones as Hinata darted forwards and started attacking with her Jyūken and Sasuke flashed through the hand seals for his Grand Fireball Jutsu again.

Hikaru found that he was being attacked from all angles and was rapidly losing ground. Between having to dodge Hinata's Jyūken (he noted approvingly that the girl seemed to have finally toughened up a little), Sasuke's fireballs and Naruto's clone barrages, Hikaru was having a lot more trouble with the three genin than he thought he was going to.

A faint ringing sound drew his attention, just in time for him to drag his katana from its sheath and twist around in midair (having just jumped to avoid a Jyūken barrage from Hinata) so that Naruto's ninjatō met his katana with a ringing clang.

The pair exchanged blows for a long minute; neither having any real training with the weapons other than pure instinct meaning that neither could do more than scratch their opponent.

Sasuke, being an opportunist by nature as well as smart (having not been pronounced Rookie of the Year for nothing), quickly came up with a plan, muttered it to Hinata as they watched Hikaru and Naruto exchange sword blows, and leapt into action as soon as the girl had nodded to show she understood.

Hikaru only realized that something was wrong when Naruto's eyes flicked past him and he grinned while blocking his katana with his own ninjatō. He made to pull away from Naruto, but he felt a number of soft strikes against his back and instantly lost all feeling in his limbs. Toppling backwards and letting go of his katana, he felt Naruto's hand close around the bells and yank them off his belt.

As the three genin moved to stand in a group and Naruto handed the second bell to Hinata, Naruto smirked and said, "I believe the three of us pass now…?"

Hikaru tried to rise, but found he was incapable of doing so, "You three pass. Now would you mind reopening my tenketsu? I can usually do it myself but I can't at the moment."

Hinata walked over and started trying to roll Hikaru over. Sasuke and Naruto helped, and as soon as Hikaru was lying on his front, Hinata tapped his back in each of the places she had hit and then stepped back to allow their new sensei to stand.

He turned to the three of them and said, "First, Sasuke. I will need to research fire ninjutsu for you, and after your Sharingan activates I will have to get another tutor in to teach you how to use it effectively. Hinata, I obtained scrolls from your father from which you can learn various things for your Jyūken. I also came up with a few ideas for Jyūken-based jutsu you can create yourself, plus I may start you off on medical ninjutsu as it is always a good plan to have a med-nin on a team. Naruto, you have your kenjutsu to learn, as do I. I need to get hold of some chakra paper to test your affinity and Hinata's, and when we find out what they are I will get the two of you started on them."

Sasuke cracked his knuckles eagerly, "Then let's get to work!"

Hikaru smirked, reaching into his pockets and taking out three slips of chakra paper, "First, Sasuke. The reason I'm testing you when I know that your affinity is fire is because I suspect you might possibly have a secondary affinity."

Sasuke took the piece of chakra paper, only to look up sheepishly and ask, "What do I do?"

"Just channel some chakra into the paper."

Sasuke did so. The paper did two things; it creased slightly and then burnt up.

"Hmm," said Hikaru, feigning surprise, "It seems you have a strong fire affinity, which we knew already, but you also have a weak lightning affinity. Hinata, you try now."

The Hyūga girl held up her piece of paper and concentrated. The paper became soggy and then crumbled into dust. "Water and earth. I wonder if you'd be capable of combining them… worth a try, but later. Naruto."

Naruto held up the piece of paper. What happened next caused all their eyes to widen; Naruto's piece of paper sliced itself in half, then one fragment burnt up and the other crumpled in on itself so violently that it seemed to instantly become an eighth of its original size. Hinata and Sasuke were both blinking stars from their eyes as the piece that had burnt up had done so with such ferocity that it dazzled both of them.

"Okay…" said Hikaru quietly, staring at his younger self with an amazed expression, "You seem to have affinities for wind, fire and lightning, Naruto."

Naruto frowned, "Is that unusual?"

Hikaru looked over at the blond, "Naruto, generally people don't get a second affinity until they're at least jōnin-level. You have three and you only just made genin."

Naruto blinked and mouthed, "Kyūbi?"

Hikaru shrugged and replied out loud, "The fire affinity, I would guess so. The wind and lightning might well be your own affinities."

Sasuke looked puzzled, "What were you talking about?"

Hikaru looked over at Naruto, who nodded once to show he agreed and said, "Let's just tell them. They're going to find out eventually."

Hinata looked puzzled as well, a look which gave Naruto the overwhelming urge to squeal, "Kawaii!"

"What are you talking about, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gave a small sigh, "When's my birthday, Hinata?"

"…October 10th, why?"

"What else happened on the 10th of October?"

Sasuke spoke up, "The Kyūbi's attack, why…" His eyes widened, "The Kyūbi isn't dead, is it? We were lied to in the Academy."

Hikaru took over, "Not lied to really… well ok you were lied to, but it was for a good reason."

"And what might that have been?"

"Sasuke, think about it. If you had known from the start that Naruto was the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, would you have been so willing to make friends with him?" Sasuke didn't respond; he just looked down at the ground. Hikaru continued, "You, Hinata, would you have always liked Naruto so much if you knew what he held back from destroying the village?"

Hinata blushed as everybody looked at her, but she didn't respond either.

Hikaru folded his arms, "Exactly. The two of you would not have behaved towards Naruto as you do; had you known about what actually happened to the Kyūbi no Kitsune." He leaned forwards slightly, "I must impress on both of you that you never breathe a word of this to anybody. What we just told you is an S-class secret of the Leaf and carries the highest penalties for breaking the laws surrounding it."

Both dōjutsu users nodded and quietly promised to keep the secret. Hikaru smiled, reaching into his pockets again and pulling out a set of scrolls, tossing one to each of them (two to Naruto) and keeping the last one for himself. "Sasuke; that scroll contains two C-ranked fire ninjutsu I looked up in my private library last night. Hinata, your scroll contains several Jyūken exercises that you can start practicing. Once you have mastered all of those, I will start helping you with making your own Jyūken variants. Naruto, the red scroll contains some basic chakra control exercises and the other scroll is for the first stage of your kenjutsu training. Now, I want all three of you to practice hard, alright? I will be here if you need my help, but I will be practicing my own kenjutsu. Begin."

-WJGW-

Naruto collapsed onto the grass, exhausted and barely able to stand up. After he had finished the kenjutsu scroll and set about a dozen clones working on his chakra control exercises, he and Hikaru had started having a fight.

They had duelled for a long few minutes before Naruto ducked under Hikaru's guard and swiped at his knees, causing the taller man to leap into the air. It was at this point that Hinata seemed to decide she wanted to practice some of the new Jyūken techniques she had learnt, because Hikaru suddenly found himself being hounded by chakra strikes, a swinging ninjatō and the occasional fireball.

"Why," he said fifteen minutes later, once all three genin had somehow managed to subdue him long enough to tie him to a tree, "do you three persist in ganging up on me?"

"Because," said Naruto, grinning broadly, "It's easy to get one over on you as a team! And because it's fun."

"Grrrr… see if I'm going to see about getting you a C-rank after only a couple of D-ranks now…"

In almost an instant, the ropes were gone, his sealed tenketsu had been reopened and there was a steaming bowl of ramen in front of him. "Hmm… ok, you did well," he mused, picking up his chopsticks and breaking them apart, "But you will still need to do a lot of D-ranks before I consider letting you go on a C-rank mission."

Three groans of disappointment split the air. Hikaru chuckled, "You three have done very well today. You've made a lot more progress than I was thinking you would at first; it's good to see you're really committing yourselves."

All three gave him broad smiles as he tucked into his ramen.

-WJGW-

The days passed. Finally the time came when Hikaru remembered receiving the C-rank mission which turned into an A-rank. He gathered the team and headed off for the Hokage Tower to get their mission for the day.

"Ah, Hikaru-san, I have a nice selection of D-ranks for your team today…"

"Actually, Iruka-san, can we possibly get a C-rank? I really think my team are capable of it now."

"Are you sure, Hikaru-san?"

"Yes, I am. Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke have done exceptionally well in their training during the past few weeks. I'm finding it difficult to hold all of them off even when I'm using most of my ability. Heck, at this point I'm fairly sure they are all capable of B-ranked missions, but I know I'm not getting any of those until after the upcoming Chūnin Exams."

Iruka sighed, thought it over for a minute and then picked up a piece of paper, "This is a C-ranked escort mission to the Land of Waves. A bridge builder needs to return home and he worries about bandits on the road."

"That's perfect," said Hikaru, resisting the urge to shiver and mutter something about déjà vu.

Iruka turned to an ANBU, "Can you bring in the client?"

The ANBU nodded and left, soon returning escorting an old man that Hikaru recognized at once as Tazuna the bridge-builder. "Pfft, is this all I get?" snorted Tazuna, "The little blond brat doesn't look like much, nor does that blind girl! Come to think of it, the big guy doesn't look that scary either!"

Hikaru placed a hand on Sasuke's and Naruto's shoulders as both of them made to move forwards, before he patted Hinata comfortingly on the shoulder and suddenly vanished in a shunshin.

Tazuna immediately became aware of a tri-pointed kunai poking him in the side of the neck, the middle point laid against his jugular while one of the other points pressed into the skin. He felt soft breath on his ear as Hikaru breathed, "Do not underestimate me or my students. Death may ensue."

Around the room, various people noted the similarity between Hikaru's current behaviour and that of a certain snake-wielding tokubetsu jōnin.

Tazuna nodded hesitantly, only for the kunai to be suddenly removed from his neck and the jōnin to suddenly move back to where he stood behind his students, smiling pleasantly as Tazuna sweated slightly.

"R-right… seems you are the right people for the job then," stammered Tazuna.

"Damn right we are," Hikaru thought, smirking inwardly, "I know all that you aren't telling, Tazuna. Hmm, I wonder if I could persuade Zabuza and Haku to join the Leaf… Worth a try."

Out loud he said, "Alright then. Guys, go collect everything you'll need for a week-long mission alright?"

All three nodded and scampered out of the room. Hikaru made to follow, but stopped beside Tazuna and muttered, "You know; something about this mission doesn't seem right… You are telling us the whole truth, aren't you?"

Before Tazuna could react he chuckled, "Then again, I might just be being paranoid. I do have three genin to look after, after all, and I guess that would make anybody paranoid, particularly when one is related to you." He walked out still chuckling quietly.

-WJGW-

Hinata arrived back home to find her father awaiting her, "Finished with the day's missions already?" he asked.

Hinata shook her head, a smile on her face, "No! We're going on a C-rank mission!"

Hiashi smiled, "That's good Hinata!"

The girl nodded happily, "Yeah! Hikaru-sensei said that since we've been doing so well with our training he was going to get us a C-rank mission! We just got it; an escort mission to the Land of Waves!"

"Humph," said a voice, and they both turned to see the three elders of the Hyūga clan glaring at the girl, "Such exuberance is unbecoming of the Hyūga, girl. As worthless as you may be in combat, I am sure you understand that much."

Hinata responded by giving the speaker a sweet smile that somehow chilled the blood to behold, "Oh, I would not presume to offend the _clan_, dear Elder-jii-sama."

The elders flushed red at the honorific, their slight outrage not being tempered by Hiashi's hastily-stifled snort of derision, "You will show us respect, girl, lest we decide you should be unworthy of the title of clan heir."

Hinata bowed once, and she somehow managed to make even that insulting, "Of course, oh elder. But lately Hikaru-sensei has been telling me that I am actually worthy of being a shinobi and a part of the Hyūga clan, no matter what anybody says to the contrary."

"Oh really? Then we will have to talk to this "Hikaru-sensei" about intruding in clan matters."

Hiashi butted in, "That may not be wise. I have had the chance to speak with Hikaru Namikaze, and yes that is his full name, and he does not strike me as the type to be easily intimidated."

"Namikaze?" The elder rounded on Hinata, "Did you know about this, girl?"

Hinata smiled pleasantly, "Indeed I did. Hikaru-sensei told me that the Yondaime was his cousin. Now, would you care to follow up on your threat to the Yondaime's cousin and perhaps the future Godaime or Rokudaime and risk angering him, or extend a hand in friendship?"

One of the elders scowled, "There is no way that a mere cousin to the Yondaime can possibly challenge all of the Hyūga!"

Hinata's pleasant smile only widened, "Need I tell you that he knows one of the Yondaime's signature jutsu, and is working on mastering the second, which is incidentally also the one which gave the Yellow Flash his name? The jutsu which was, according to our history lessons in the Academy, responsible for three hundred Iwa shinobi dying in the space of about a minute and a half."

Hiashi's eyebrows rose in shock as all three elders paled dramatically. He had been in the hospital recovering from several kunai wounds on the day the war had ended, so he had not witnessed the jutsu himself. The elders had, it seemed, and if it made all the elders quail in fear it must be destructive.

One of the elders licked his lips nervously before saying, "Very… very well. We… we will not interfere with your tuition by the Namikaze, just make sure you uphold the clan. And… and…" He flinched imperceptibly as Hinata's pleasant smile faded a little, becoming cold and terrible as her eyes narrowed, "…and be careful on your C-rank mission. They may be mere bandits and no match for a Hyūga in close combat but nobody can predict everything that happens."

Hinata's smile widened again, "Thank you, elder." Without waiting for anyone else to speak, she ran off towards her room.

The elders stared after her for a long moment before the third elder, the only woman, shook her head, "How can a twelve-year-old be that scary?"

Neither of the two male elders said a word. They didn't have to. The answer was obvious; Hikaru Namikaze was a very beneficial influence on the Hyūga heiress.

Hiashi smiled, not saying a word as he looked after his daughter. It was true that she had changed much in the past few weeks. Ever since the night before Hinata's genin test with her new team, she had been slowly becoming more self-confident. He didn't know what Hikaru had done to make her improve so drastically, but he didn't particularly care as long as his daughter was back to how she was before the elders had started belittling her so much.

-WJGW-

Hikaru was already standing beside the gates with Tazuna when the three genin arrived, each of them carrying a large backpack. "Wait," he said to Tazuna, "List off what you have in your packs."

Sasuke gave him an odd look before saying, "Two large folding windmill shuriken, a couple of rolls of ninja wire and some extra supplies of kunai and shuriken. Also a couple of sealing scrolls with food and clothes in if these get damaged. Oh, and my bingo book."

Hikaru nodded, having taught the three of them how to seal things into scrolls a week before. Naruto had posed the question of being able to seal things into a seal array that was on something such as a shirt sleeve. Hikaru had simply told him that if he was able to make it work, then he was free to use the idea.

Hinata revealed that her pack contained sealing scrolls full of portable foodstuffs as well as a small box of matches for starting a fire. Spare clothing was sealed into another scroll, and the rest was comprised of either more kunai and shuriken and a few scrolls that Hikaru or her father had given her to practice from.

Naruto announced that his own rucksack was mostly filled with weaponry, with a couple of scrolls filled with food and clothing in with it. As he was really the biggest damage-dealer on the squad; that fitted him well. The fact that each of them had been sure to pack spare clothing and plenty of food was also handy, since (though Hikaru did not voice this to them) he knew that the mission would actually take longer than it should do.

Finally Hikaru turned to Tazuna and said, "Alright, we're setting off. Hinata will take point; I will stand on Tazuna's right, with Sasuke on his left; and Naruto, you bring up the rear."

Before Naruto could complain he continued, "I know you want to be in the thick of the fighting, but the truth is that bandits will always attack from as many directions as they can all at once. If Sasuke and I are handling the front and sides with Hinata, I'll need you to handle anyone who tries to attack us from behind, alright?"

Pacified, Naruto nodded, and Hikaru turned to Hinata, "I need you to turn on your Byakugan every so often to check for bandits ahead of us or around us. You'll be our early warning, Hinata, if something goes wrong."

As the Hyūga heiress nodded, Sasuke took a step forwards, "What am I doing?"

Hikaru chuckled, "You'll be helping me with defending us from the sides in the event of an attack."

Once Sasuke nodded calmly and they started walking, Hikaru thought back over the events some ten to eleven years previously. He hoped he could recall them with sufficient clarity; it wouldn't be a good start for them to lose their client on their very first C-rank mission; especially when they had managed it; not flawlessly, but close to it; back in his own time.

-WJGW-

They eventually slowed to a halt on the very stretch of road where Hikaru remembered the attack by the Demon Brothers back in his own time. "Hinata," he said, "What can you see?"

"Genjutsu," murmured the girl.

"Very well," said Hikaru, turning to the two boys, "There's a lesson here for you. How to recognize genjutsu from the most obvious signs. Tell me, Sasuke, has it rained lately?"

"No," replied the Uchiha, "Not for at least a week."

"Then why," said Hikaru with a smirk, pointing towards the puddle in the middle of the road with one hand while his other hand reached for a kunai tied to an explosive tag, "is there a puddle in the middle of the road?"

In one motion, he flung the kunai at the puddle. He just heard two voices exclaim, "SHIT!" before the tag went off and suddenly blood and body parts were raining down out of the air.

Tazuna watched as a large metal gauntlet thudded to the ground in front of Hikaru, who picked it up and tugged the hand out of it. Discarding the hand he examined the gauntlet, "Yeah, this should be enough. Anyone see the other one's gauntlet?"

Sasuke tugged the hand out of it and threw it to him. He grinned and sealed them into a scroll, "Ok, another lesson on being shinobi, our salaries absolutely stink so we need to embellish them somehow. Sasuke, what does your bingo book say about these two?"

Sasuke gave him a dry look, "I don't know their names, and the bingo book doesn't go by weaponry."

Hikaru laughed, "They're called the Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist."

Sasuke smirked, "Now that I can work with." He flicked open his bingo book and started leafing through.

After a few seconds' pause he said, "Here we go! The Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist, B-ranked, reportedly chūnin when they abandoned their village. Their attacks rely on working together. Bounty… 2,500 ryō apiece."

Hikaru snorted, "That's less than me and Naruto spend on a ramen binge."

Sasuke gave him a dry smirk, "Sensei, that's because you two are officially insane."

Hikaru smirked right back, "And that's a surprise to you?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, but then sighed, "I guess I've got to give that to you."

Hikaru winked, "Exactly. Now," he rounded on Tazuna, "Care to explain why we are encountering missing-nin on a mission where you told our mission office that you were worried about bandits? This mission should be B-ranked at the least, and I have a suspicion that it's going to turn A-ranked fairly soon."

Tazuna stared back for a few seconds before he sighed and bowed his head, "I lied. I don't have enough money for a B- or A-ranked mission so I lied about the difficulty in order to get a shinobi team out here."

Hikaru folded his arms, imitating how he remembered Kakashi acting in his own time, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't turn around and head back to Konoha right now. My team are genin who've only been out of the Academy for a while; you should have a team of chūnin or jōnin for this mission alone, let alone what else you want us to do."

Tazuna gave him a curious look, "What makes you think I had an ulterior motive?"

Hikaru realized he'd accidentally revealed that he had prior knowledge of what was going on. Thinking quickly for an explanation he folded his arms, "Do not test me, Tazuna-san. I am not in a good mood already; my genin are being threatened by a hostile force and considering one of them is related to me; that's bound to make me a little irritable."

Tazuna gulped at the concentrated killing intent issuing from the jōnin in front of him, while the three genin glanced at each other as they saw a new side to their sensei, a side that was eager to terrorize their client in order to defend his genin team.

Hikaru crouched in front of Tazuna and said, "I somehow doubt you asked for a team of shinobi just to defend you from bandits; a mercenary or samurai for hire could've done that. What else aren't you telling us?"

Tazuna gulped at the glare, before breaking down and quickly spilling his guts about what had happened to Wave over the last few years. Hikaru finally sat back and said, "I would prefer to ask my genin whether we should continue this mission or not before I make my own decision. What do you three think?"

The three genin went into a huddle before Hinata stepped forwards, "We want to continue the mission. We're Konoha shinobi, how would it look to other clients if we abandoned a mission?"

Hikaru nodded, "I agree. Very well, we will continue the mission."

-WJGW-

"Everybody, be careful. The silence around here is unnerving me. Hinata?"

She activated her Byakugan, but then they all heard a rustling in the bushes. Before Hinata could say what it was, Naruto and Sasuke had flung two kunai into the bushes.

Hinata turned to them, her Byakugan still activated, "It was just a rabbit. Go look."

Naruto pulled one of the branches aside to reveal a quivering rabbit lying between the two kunai. While Hinata picked up the rabbit and stroked its back to calm it down, Hikaru looked around and immediately yelled, "Everybody duck!"

Naruto grabbed Hinata and dragged her to the ground, bearing Sasuke down too as the two genin rolled into his legs. Hikaru launched himself at Tazuna, knocking him down as well as something huge hurtled over his head and hit a tree with a loud thunk.

Hikaru stood up, drawing his katana and murmuring, "Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist…"

The bandaged man standing on the handle of the Kubikiribōchō smirked at him, "Ah, so you know my name then?"

Hikaru straightened slightly, moving into a ready position as he glanced over to check on his genin, "Sasuke, remember that entry in the bingo book I showed you the day we became a team?"

"Yes, I do."

"This is the guy. Anyway, I want you three to guard Tazuna. Keep an eye out, alright?"

"Will do, sensei!" said Naruto cheerfully, drawing his ninjatō and taking up a position in front of the bridge builder with Hinata and Sasuke behind him.

Hikaru growled quietly as Zabuza jumped down to the ground and yanked the sword out of the tree, "Begone, Momochi. I hold no grudge against you."

"Well, that's the problem here, buddy. I've been hired to kill him," he pointed at Tazuna, "and you aren't going to stop me!"

"Look, Momochi, we both know that Gatō is not going to pay you one ryō for your services in the end. You and Haku have been duped."

"And how do you know about Haku?"

"I've seen you before. Both of you. I also know Gatō's type; he's duping the both of you. Are you willing to stake Haku's life on his word?"

Zabuza frowned, "I… Stop trying to confuse me!" He lashed out at Hikaru with his sword, causing the blond man to block sharply. "Who are you?"

"My name is Hikaru Namikaze, cousin to the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze of Konohagakure, and on my honour as a Namikaze, I will not fail my mission!"

Zabuza scowled, "Very well. You have made your choice to die fighting." He formed hand-seals, "Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

Hikaru looked around carefully, watching for occasional disturbances in the mist. His warning came when the mist next to him swirled slightly. He flicked his blade over his shoulder, dropping into a crouch in order to lower his centre of gravity as there was a deafening clang.

Zabuza blinked as his blade was stopped dead by the blond man. Pulling away, he struck a second blow, which was also blocked.

Hikaru smirked, "Is that it? Then take this! Rasengan!" He formed a Rasengan in his palm and struck out at the man, who leapt backwards. Hikaru followed, pressing his advantage.

Zabuza leapt onto the water and began forming hand-seals at top speed, "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

Hikaru channelled wind chakra to his katana and activated his shunshin, cutting straight through the dragon even as it formed. Zabuza's eyes widened as he started flashing through more hand-seals, "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Hikaru simply raised a hand, "Wind Release: Wind Blade!" A visible ripple appeared in the sky before him and shot at the forming wall of water in front of Zabuza, slicing it in two.

Zabuza growled, "I will not fail! I need to get funds; I must destroy the Mizukage who has ruined my homeland!"

"The Mizukage, huh…? That would be Yagura, right?"

"Yes," spat the missing-nin, "I won't allow him to destroy my homeland any more than he already has."

"Well," said Hikaru calmly, leaning his katana back against his shoulder, "What if I were to tell you that Yagura was actually under an elaborate genjutsu and being used as a puppet? What if I were to tell you that in at least six months, Yagura would be overthrown and disappear completely and a woman named Mei Terumī would replace him?"

Zabuza looked up, "Mei-chan?"

Hikaru stopped, "Mei-chan? You know her?"

Zabuza looked down, "Yeah, we used to be together before I left Kirigakure. I actually thought she was dead."

"_I see," _thought Hikaru, _"Back in my time, Zabuza was long dead by the time Mei Terumī took over. Hmm, if I can get him to come over to my side then maybe I can persuade him to rejoin Kiri once Mei takes up the Mizukage's seat or join Konoha… we always need more kenjutsu instructors I reckon, and I think it'd be an honour to have people learning from one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist…"_

He held up a hand as Zabuza readied his blade, "Where is she, Zabuza?"

"Who?"

"Haku, I know she is here somewhere, dressed in the garb of a Kirigakure hunter-nin, ready to rescue you if you get your ass whipped by your opponent."

Zabuza pointed the Kubikiribōchō at Hikaru, "You know a little too much about me for comfort, Namikaze."

Hikaru smirked, "I know your type, Momochi. You're willing to do anything for your homeland, even use your own allies as pawns. You use Haku as a tool, and I know for a fact that you basically threw away the Demon Brothers' lives earlier as though they didn't matter."

Zabuza scowled under his bandages, "Do not think you understand me, Namikaze. I will make this plain to you: I will destroy the Mizukage who has ruined my homeland. I will kill anybody who gets in my way, including Gatō once I have got enough money to fund another coup-de-tat out of him. And right now… you are in my way!"

He slashed outwards with his blade, causing another loud clang as their two blades struck together.

-WJGW-

The three genin watched as their sensei and the missing-nin struck out with jutsu and swords.

"Water Release: Triple Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" bellowed Zabuza, causing three dragons to appear out of the water and attack Hikaru, followed by a wave of Water Clones which struck out at the man with their own swords. A few Wind Blades dealt with them, combined with his katana.

Finally, Zabuza lost his temper. Pouring a large quantity of his remaining chakra into the jutsu, he flashed through hand-seals; "WATER RELEASE: GREAT WATERFALL JUTSU!"

Hikaru, who had been looking around for more clones, stopped when he heard the shout, but wasn't fast enough to dodge as he was smashed off his feet by the wall of water and knocked into the lake.

Zabuza grinned under his mask as he crouched and slammed his hand onto the water, shouting, "Water Prison Jutsu!"

-WJGW-

The three genin watched in shock as their sensei was lifted out of the lake, trapped in a sphere of water which, from the weak attempt at struggling, seemed to be harder than reinforced metal at that moment.

Naruto was the first to notice that Hikaru's hands were forming sign language, which they had agreed on a few weeks before as a way to communicate while setting up an ambush. It took him a second to understand what his sensei was saying.

"_Run,"_ he was signing frantically with as much freedom as the water allowed, _"run!"_

Naruto shook his head in slight apology back at his sensei before drawing his ninjatō and turning to the others, "I have a plan."

-WJGW-

Hikaru would have palmed his face if he was able to move more than three inches. How could he have forgotten that even if he had matured over the years back in his time, this was still a time when he was a headstrong little twerp who never ran from a fight!

Forcing his sluggish fingers to form seals, he opened his mouth, relying on his already-depleted supply of oxygen to form words, and concentrated. Pouring as much chakra as he could into the jutsu he grunted, "Wind Release: Circle of Slicing Death!"

Zabuza glanced down just in time to the water prison ripple before it exploded. A second later his leg exploded into pain as it was nearly detached by a ferocious wind blade.

Hikaru Namikaze raised his head, smirking as he drew in a deep breath before reaching over his back and drawing his katana.

Zabuza was holding his bad leg when he sensed something approaching his head at high speed. He was just fast enough to raise the Kubikiribōchō and block the Namikaze's katana before it detached his head.

"Five minutes ago," grunted Zabuza, trying to staunch the blood flowing from his leg with his hand, "You were talking about me possibly joining you. Now you're trying to kill me. Care to explain?"

Hikaru frowned, "I would be willing to help you bring down the Yondaime Mizukage; I could actually fund the damn coup. However since you seemed to decide you just wanted to kill me and my genin, attacking you is really the only thing I can do. So now," he drew an odd three-pointed kunai into one hand, "You die, Zabuza Momochi!"

Zabuza opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly two senbon shot out of the trees and hit him squarely in the side of the neck. Zabuza sank to the ground clutching at his neck, whereupon he lay limp.

"Thank you, Namikaze-san," said a soft voice as a hunter-nin Hikaru recognized as being Haku in disguise appeared out of the trees, "I've been chasing him for a very long time. This is the first time I've had an opportunity to take him down."

Hikaru sheathed his katana and smiled at the false hunter-nin as she moved over and picked Zabuza up with a little effort, "Can I help you with that?"

Haku shook her head, "No thank you, Namikaze-san. You may gather your team and depart; I will take over from here."

Hikaru looked her right in the eyeholes of her mask, "I insist… Haku."

Haku stayed silent for a long moment before she snapped her fingers and vanished in a swirl of mist.

Naruto turned to the other three, "Are you alright?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, we're fine."

"Good. Next time, obey my orders. I don't want any of you three getting badly injured in trying to take down an opponent who you can't possibly match."

All three genin nodded, and Hikaru turned to Tazuna, "You alright there, Tazuna?"

Tazuna nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Hikaru nodded before smiling and flinging out an arm, "Then let us go, my cute students! Let us blaze with the power of youth and race into a new day!"

They all stared at him for a long moment before Sasuke said, "Sensei… never do that again, it's really creepy."

Hikaru smirked quietly, "Then get moving and I won't go Gai on you again!"

None of them bothered to ask him what he meant, but they recognized the subtle threat in his voice and wisely hustled out of the clearing before he could follow up on the threat.

Hikaru chuckled as he watched the three genin running off with Tazuna in tow, before following. It was times such as this that made him love being a jōnin-sensei.

-WJGW-

They arrived at the shore a couple of hours later and quickly located the boat which would take them across to the island.

When the man told them that he was going to row them across to avoid being caught out on the water while near the bridge, Hikaru volunteered to walk on the water beside the boat while his genin sat in the boat with Tazuna. The man consented, mainly because if he requested that Hikaru sit in the boat, it greatly increased their chances of capsizing.

Tazuna led them to his house and introduced them to his daughter Tsunami and grandson Inari, who shouted that they were all going to die before storming off. Hikaru allowed himself a wry smirk as he remembered what a brat Inari had been last time. Hopefully he would be able to make him change this time as well.

"Guys?" he said to the three genin, causing them to turn around; "Tomorrow we're going to start training, alright?"

The three genin nodded and left the room, heading for their separate places to sleep. Hikaru himself created a bunch of clones to stand on lookout around the house before he himself retired to his bed, where he lay for a long time, revising what had happened the previous time he had had this mission, before he finally fell asleep.

-WJGW-

The next morning, Hikaru met Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke in an open clearing behind the house. "First things first," he said, leaning against a tree, "I'm going to assign you three a chakra control exercise, alright?"

Naruto nodded happily, "What's the exercise?"

Hikaru turned to the tree, raised a foot and pressed it against the bark. A few seconds later he raised his other foot and placed it on the bark as well. Walking up the tree and along the underside of a branch he grinned at his students, "Tree walking. This is an especially important exercise for us of the Land of Fire because of the number of trees surrounding Konoha. It is common for our shinobi to try and move faster than they would on the ground by jumping through the trees. Each of you find your own tree and take out a kunai. I want you to try running up the tree and scratching the bark with your kunai before you drop back down. Once all three of you have reached the tops of your respective trees, I will teach the three of you the next chakra control exercise, alright?"

He then proceeded to walk around correcting their various mistakes. He had long since resolved to be a better sensei to his genin than Kakashi had been to him back in his own time.

Hinata was the first to get it, since as a Hyūga it was a given that she would already have prodigious chakra control. Naruto cheered her when he saw her sitting at the top of the tree, which caused the girl to form a blush visible even from the bottom of the tree.

Sasuke was the next to get it, so Hikaru decided to drop the bomb and tell them that technically the exercise was not finished until all three could stand on the tree and fight each other for an hour without falling off. So while Naruto continued to work on getting just the right amount of chakra to adhere to the tree, Hikaru watched Sasuke and Hinata spar on another tree, sticking to the bark with their chakra.

Since he had nothing he could really do while the three genin worked, Hikaru decided to sit down and work on his custom seal for the Hiraishin jutsu. It was essentially an exact copy of the Yondaime's, but as the original would not work for him he was having to copy it perfectly with his own blood mixed with the ink.

"Sensei, what's that?"

Hikaru looked up to see Sasuke standing next to him, curiously looking at the Hiraishin seal he was working on, "It's a little fūinjutsu project I'm working on, Sasuke. Shouldn't you be working on your chakra control exercise right now?"

Sasuke jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Hinata was leaning against the tree, "We finished. You lost track of time and we finished half an hour ago."

Hikaru jumped up, "Why didn't you say so? Follow me!"

He created a clone to watch Naruto while he led the two dark-haired genin to the shore, where he proceeded to walk out onto the water. "This," he said, turning to them, "is a little more difficult than tree walking. Where tree walking requires a steady amount of chakra, the surface of the water is in a constant state of flux, so you need to change the amount of chakra you channel through the soles of your feet constantly. This should prove a much more interesting challenge for the two of you, and Naruto as well once he succeeds in hanging onto a tree for a full hour without falling off while fighting one of my clones. One more thing, before I let you get on; I have some fūinjutsu tags here which will automatically dry you off when I put one on your forehead. It is soon going to be winter, after all; and I don't want any of you catching a chill while we're on a mission."

He stepped off the water onto the shore and sat down on the grass as the two genin ran towards the water. Two loud splashes heralded their first failures at getting the chakra concentration right. Hikaru chuckled as he watched them struggle back to shore, at which point he handed them both drying tags and sat down to resume his work on the Hiraishin seal. With luck, he'd have it ready to use when Gatō's thugs appeared on the bridge…

-WJGW-

Naruto cracked the knack behind tree walking during dinner that night, when Inari again ranted at them about how they were all going to die. Hikaru followed him back to his room while Tazuna and Tsunami explained the story of Kaiza to the three genin, and found Inari sitting on the windowsill of his room crying over the picture of Kaiza.

"You know, Inari…" he said, sitting down next to the boy without an invitation, "I know you're upset about losing your father figure. I was devastated when I lost mine."

Inari hugged his knees, "What do you know?"

Hikaru smiled and patted his shoulder, "You know, Inari, you've really got it easy. You have a mother and grandfather who love you. Neither me, nor my team, has that. Hinata's father loves her, but he has his hands tied by the elders of their clan so he can't appear to like her too much or they'll do something horrible to her. Sasuke's family were all murdered by his older brother, who he looked up to more than anybody else in the world, then that brother forced him to relive it countless times through a genjutsu. Naruto…" he raised his head and looked out across the water, "…Naruto never had that. Until I came into his life, his second cousin and now sort of a brother and father to him as well as his jōnin-sensei, he didn't have anybody at all. Our entire village hated him for something that his real father, my cousin, did to him when he was just a baby."

Inari looked up at Hikaru, "R-Really?"

Hikaru looked down at him cheerfully, "Yeah. You see, Inari, we're Leaf-ninja. We don't give up when the going gets tough. We'll protect your grandfather, and if Gatō turns up at the bridge with a gang of mercenaries in tow to try and wipe us out through sheer numbers, I can use a special jutsu."

Inari gave him a sceptical look, "What kind of thing can wipe out an army of mercenaries?"

Hikaru smirked, pulling one of the three-pointed kunai from his jōnin vest and handing it to the small boy, "This is the basis of that jutsu. It's a jutsu my cousin developed, and during the last war he used that jutsu and killed over three hundred Iwa-nins from the Land of Earth in one shot."

Inari turned the kunai over in his hands, and Hikaru continued, "You know you said that there are no real heroes? Well my cousin, the Yondaime Hokage; he was a hero. He ended the Third Great Shinobi War on his own. That final attack by Iwa was thwarted by him and him alone. He also sacrificed his life to get rid of the Kyūbi no Kitsune when it attacked Konoha some years ago. That single action saved the village from total annihilation. So you see, Inari; there are heroes in the world still. Naruto himself is a hero; by being alive he keeps the same thing from befalling the village another time. In their own way, Sasuke and Hinata are heroes as well. One day, you might be a hero to your people, Inari. Being a hero is being willing to lay down your life for those you love. If you have something incredibly precious to you that you want to protect, you can attain new heights of power that you only dreamed were possible." He stood up, retrieving the kunai, "I should be going now. But before I go, I'll say one more thing." He set a hand on Inari's shoulder, "Kaiza was a man worthy of much praise, but even he couldn't protect Wave from everything. One hero is never enough. It takes multiple heroes to be able to protect everything and everyone. If you can be a hero for your people, Inari; nobody will ever forget you, no matter how bleak things get for them." He walked away.

Inaei stayed in that position for a long time, staring out to sea, before he clenched his fist and said, "He's right. I will be a hero for my people like tou-san, and I won't let any of them down!"

-WJGW-

Naruto managed to finish the tree walking exercise the very next day, so after the boy had proven he was capable of staying stuck to a tree for an hour while fighting with one of his clones, he set all three onto the task of water walking instead.

As he watched them work, he reflected on their separate traits. Hinata was more suited towards analysing the problem and finding a workable solution. Both Naruto and Sasuke would attack the problem with a single-minded intensity, though neither was opposed to the idea of requesting Hinata's help as she trod carefully around on the water, keeping her mind focussed on the task of ensuring that she did not fall in. Both boys seemed to have also turned it into a contest of sorts as well, trying to see who was capable of learning to water-walk without actually thinking about it first.

Hikaru chuckled as he pulled out the Hiraishin seal and began working on it again. He was almost finished, and then he had to start applying it to the blank kunai he had picked up from Takeshi Wares just before they left on the mission.

-WJGW-

Unnoticed by any of them, a young dark-haired girl watched from fifty feet away behind a tree. She wore a pink kimono, and her brown eyes sparkled slightly as she watched the jōnin working on whatever he was working on and the three genin stepping carefully across the surface of the water, trying to get a feel for water walking.

Haku's eyes were set on one particular member of the group; the black-haired boy, to whom she felt inexplicably drawn to, despite the fact that she served Zabuza-sama with all her heart and soul.

Deciding she had observed their enemies enough for one day, she made to step away from the tree, but at the last second she accidentally trod on a twig, which snapped under her foot. Turning back towards the group she had been watching she noticed, with a sudden surge of horror, that the jōnin had disappeared. Twisting back to run, she found three copies of the jōnin standing in front of her with their katanas levelled at her.

Haku's eyes widened in terror, knowing she was about to die.

-WJGW-

Hikaru looked down at the girl in front of him, whose eyes were filled with utter fear as she stared up at him, helpless. He couldn't bring himself to kill her, remembering her as he did from his own time.

A long second passed before he finally sighed and signalled his clones to sheathe their weapons. Haku looked up at him blankly for a minute before he dispelled the clones and knelt in front of her, looking her right in the eye, "You know, somehow I can't bring myself to kill you right now. Therefore I'm just going to send you back to your master with a message. Tell him from me that my offer is still open; if he wants to defect from Gatō's service, I will happily fund his coup-de-tat out of my own pocket. And if he decides he needs somewhere to go, he'll be welcome in Konoha. We need more kenjutsu teachers there."

Haku nodded dumbly for a moment before he tapped her forehead with two fingers, "Go on; scoot. My students don't know you're here, but I might not be able to hold them back if they do."

Haku flinched slightly at the contact before she blinked and smiled, "For what it is worth, Namikaze-san, thank you." She vanished in a swirl of mist before Hikaru could respond.

Once again, Hikaru watched the point where the girl had been for a long moment before returning to his original place, watching his genin work.

-WJGW-

The three genin managed to accomplish the water walking task fairly quickly after that, with a tiny bit of assistance from Hikaru, and soon all three were engaged in a furious free-for-all on the water to see if they could maintain their balance while fighting for an hour. When they crawled off the water's surface, exhausted and drenched to the bone, Hikaru simply tagged each with one of the drying seals he had drawn up and sent them off to sleep. Too tired to eat, each of them had dragged themselves into bed and fallen asleep almost immediately.

Once all three had woken up the next morning, Hikaru again dragged them off to train. This time he got them started on learning jutsu. Sasuke was given several fire and lightning ninjutsu to try out, Hinata got the Jyūken scrolls and a couple of medical texts and Naruto worked on his kenjutsu while some of his clones worked on the new jutsu. A point that Hikaru raised before setting all three to work was to tell Naruto that he should really teach his teammates the Shadow Clone Jutsu, as well as his unique Transformation Jutsu.

"See, I hope that the three of you will be real powerhouses among Konoha shinobi in later years, and shadow clones go a long way towards that. One of the most interesting facts about shadow clones is this; anything learnt by the clone is learnt by the original person when the clone dispels, For example, if I were to take one of Naruto's clones over behind those trees over there and whisper something in its ear, then punch the clone to dispel it, Naruto would not only know that I had dispelled the clone, and how; but he would also know what I whispered in its ear before dispelling it. As a result, using clones to train results in a multiplier effect; one clone doubles the amount of experience, two triples it, and so on. Naruto is the only one who can use this to full effect, as the Kyūbi prevents his mind from fracturing due to informational overload or because he's trying to meld thousands of fragments back together all at once. Also, the Shadow Clone Jutsu halves your chakra just creating one clone, so as Naruto has so much chakra because of the Kyūbi he can create up to a thousand clones without killing himself from chakra exhaustion."

He looked from Sasuke to Hinata and back again, "I don't know if either of you has sufficient chakra to form a clone yet, but when you do I must still insist that you be very careful with this jutsu. This isn't like the standard illusion clone; it doesn't take the barest amount of chakra to form. If you go over your limits with this jutsu, you _will _die."

It transpired that Hinata did not have the necessary levels of chakra to form a shadow clone, whereas Sasuke did but nearly passed out on creating the clone. Hikaru forced him to sit against a tree and watch the other two sparring while he recovered some of his chakra.

After a few minutes of watching Naruto and Hinata spar, Sasuke walked over to Hikaru, who was once again sitting against a tree and sketching kanji onto a blank paper tag. "Yes, Sasuke?" said Hikaru without looking up.

Sasuke sat down beside his sensei and said, "What are you doing, sensei?"

Hikaru smiled at the black-haired genin, "This is fūinjutsu in its highest form, Sasuke."

"Can you teach me fūinjutsu?"

"I am intending to teach each of you some fūinjutsu at some point. For the moment however, you're still a little inexperienced." Knowing that Sasuke was about to complain he continued, "Sasuke, I'm not trying to keep things from you. The thing is; fūinjutsu is a lot like shadow clones in that if you use it before you're capable; you run the risk of dying. The slightest mistake in a seal like this," he held up the Hiraishin seal he was working on, "could maim me or kill me. Therefore I need to be very, very careful when drawing up seals, particularly ones like this."

Sasuke sat down patiently as Hikaru continued to lecture him, the sound putting him in mind of his father's lectures on how to be a proper Uchiha from a young age. He smiled at the thought before he resumed paying close attention to what his sensei was telling him, "…Even with a standard explosive note, a slight mistake could cause the timer to either not work properly or even cause it to detonate automatically after activation which, understandably, is not a good thing."

Sasuke laughed, "I can see how that might not be good."

At that moment there was a yell as Hinata knocked Naruto to the ground and tackled him to the floor.

"Oi, you two!" shouted Hikaru, "Mind holding off on the making out until we finish the job?"

Both genin leapt up, blushing. Sasuke fell over backwards laughing at their embarrassed faces. Hikaru smirked before standing up and beckoning to them, "Come over here you two. Hinata, you'll be sparring with me. Naruto and Sasuke, work on your ninjutsu, alright?"

-WJGW-

The days passed. Each morning they would eat breakfast and then depart from the house to train.

Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke were getting steadily more adept in their various fields. Hinata had begun working on medical ninjutsu; a necessity since Naruto's and Sasuke's friendly rivalry (Hikaru had threatened both with death if they even thought the words "eternal rivals" but refused to explain what he meant) often led to broken bones and torn muscles.

The aforementioned boys were each becoming steadily more capable, and Hikaru was now finding himself beginning to go harder on them in spars. Trying to defend himself against Naruto's ninjatō, with which he was becoming rapidly more proficient, as well as Sasuke's jutsu at the same time proved to be very difficult.

-WJGW-

Back in Konoha, three women stood around a shadowy table.

"Well," said one with long hair, whose red eyes glowed softly in the gloom, "What do you propose we do about the Namikaze?"

The second figure, who held something long and thin that looked eerily like a dango skewer between her index and middle fingers, nodded, "Indeed, what should we do?"

The last figure, whose hair gleamed with a faint purple tint and who wore a katana on her back, folded her arms, "I vote we wait until he returns to Konoha, and then see about possibly persuading him to take each of us on a date one evening. Don't give me that look you two, it's a decent idea."

The two other women whispered quietly to each other for a moment before sighing, "Alright. Once Hikaru Namikaze returns to Konoha, our plans will be set into motion!"

-WJGW-

Haku had continued to observe them even after Hikaru had caught her in the act, despite Zabuza telling her to stop because Hikaru might decide she was a threat and kill her. It wasn't that she wasn't aware that they might perceive her as a threat, she just couldn't help it. There was something about the black-haired genin on the Leaf team that made her stomach feel funny.

She hadn't raised the subject with Zabuza on purpose, not wanting to distract him with the knowledge that his loyal servant had developed a crush on somebody.

It was during one of these reconnoitres that she ran into the blond genin named Naruto.

He had been training hard out in the woods early one morning, and she had been collecting medicinal herbs for Zabuza, since she was fairly sure that during the next engagement with the Leaf-nin he was going to get badly hurt.

They had had a brief discussion about their 'precious people' after which the pair went their separate ways.

Naruto headed back to the house and spoke to Hikaru about the conversation, and Hikaru decided to impart a few words of wisdom, "She was actually right, Naruto. Protecting your precious people is one of the key steps to becoming strong. A man who is protecting the things most dear to him can achieve heights he never dreamed of before. For example, you three are precious to me, so that's the reason why I fought Zabuza so hard a week ago."

Naruto smirked, "Aww, is the big bad Namikaze getting all emotional?"

Hikaru smirked right back, "Cheeky little monkey!"

Sasuke looked up from his scroll as his sensei started chasing his team-mate out of the house and shook his head. Sometimes his sensei could be so immature.

-WJGW-

Hikaru took a deep breath as he rolled out of bed and stood up. Today was the day when the final battle of the bridge would go down. Walking over to his clothes, he changed and started readying his things, taking particular care to verify that he had his stock of Hiraishin kunai. He didn't intend to use them unless he had no other option since he had yet to test them, but it would be a good idea to have them on hand all the same.

He woke the other three five minutes later, and they all ate a big meal before setting off for the bridge.

As Hikaru expected, they found the workers unconscious. As Tazuna woke one up and asked what happened, mist began to roll in. Hikaru handed each of the three a three-pointed kunai, "Keep this. If you need my help at any point during the battle, channel some chakra into it. Good luck."

They spread out, keeping themselves equally spaced out around Tazuna as two figures appeared out of the mist.

Hikaru smiled, "Hello Zabuza, Haku. Come to surrender?"

Zabuza snorted, levelling the huge sword he bore at Hikaru, "Nope. We're here to kill you."

Hikaru cracked his knuckles, "Right then. Haku-chan, I request that you not kill my genin. They're not exactly dispensable, and Hinata-chan's father in particular would rip me a new one if he found out that I'd got his daughter killed on our first real mission."

The hunter-nin beside Zabuza gave him a single look from behind her mask, but did not respond.

"Enough prattle!" roared Zabuza, slashing through the air with his blade, "Let's get this over with!"

Hikaru drew his katana in his right hand and immediately disappeared in a shunshin.

Zabuza raised his blade and blocked with the flat of his blade as Hikaru's katana slammed against it with an incredible clang and grating sound. He shunted the blade backwards before swinging his own out in a smooth arc, causing the blond man to duck under it.

Zabuza didn't hesitate; he moved to press his advantage. This turned out to be a partial mistake; the Namikaze caught the Kubikiribōchō on his katana and raised his free hand. A ball of blue chakra formed in his palm before he thrust it towards Zabuza with a cry of "Rasengan!"

Zabuza leapt away from him, just missing the sphere of chakra as it almost hit him in the gut. Hikaru pressed his advantage, maintaining the ball in his hand as he leapt after the Demon of the Hidden Mist, stabbing and slashing at him with the katana in his right hand and trying to hit him with the Rasengan every time the man blocked.

-WJGW-

"Hiashi!"

Hiashi looked up to see the elders entering his study, "Yes?"

One of the elders held up a scroll, "Would you care to explain this betrothal contract between the Hyūga and the Namikaze?"

Hiashi scratched his chin in a thoughtful sort of way before he replied, "Well, considering my daughter has prior feelings for Naruto Uzumaki, Namikaze-san and I felt that it was a good idea."

The elder in the middle, the one holding up the scroll, smirked at him, "Then you wouldn't mind us calling it in? After all, getting one of our clan in with the Namikaze would be most helpful for us, even if it means exposing your heir to _him_."

Hiashi cursed inwardly; neither he nor Hikaru had expected this to happen. Finally he said, "Very well. I will send a message to the Namikaze to inform him of this… development."

-WJGW-

Hikaru suddenly stopped and sneezed, before he was quickly forced to duck as Zabuza's blade threatened to remove his head.

"Seems somebody's talking about you, Namikaze?" quipped Zabuza.

"Yup," said Hikaru in a cheerful tone, "I hope it's a pretty girl… But back to our battle."

Zabuza snorted before swinging at the blond once more.

Hikaru ducked, charging a Rasengan and swinging it at his opponent. Zabuza dodged as well, the Rasengan ploughing into the surface of the bridge with a dull grinding sound.

Hikaru flipped over, balancing on his empty palm before kicking out at Zabuza with both feet while in the middle of his handstand and swinging at his knees with his katana.

-WJGW-

Hinata was looking around with her Byakugan from where she stood in front of their client, a kunai in her hand as she watched the surrounding area with her Byakugan. Her sensei had since dispelled the mist with his chakra, so she could quite plainly see the two fights going on.

-WJGW-

Naruto and Sasuke were battling with Haku, who had since used her Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors, so the two genin were standing back-to-back, Sasuke with a kunai in his hand and Naruto with his ninjatō drawn.

Naruto had already tried all three of his elemental manipulations in the blade to destroy one of the mirrors to no avail, while Sasuke had used a couple of his fire jutsu with an equal amount of success; in other words, none.

Sasuke had just begun forming seals for one of his new lightning jutsu when a hail of senbon shot out of the mirrors and caused the pair of them to throw up their arms to cover their faces.

Haku looked down on them from the mirror above their heads, _"Why do I feel like this? I can't bring myself to harm either of them, especially the dark-haired one."_

Growling with frustration, Haku threw another volley of her ice senbon. The blond with the sword slashed straight through them. Haku felt an ominous heat from the blade and realized that the boy was channelling fire chakra through the blade. _"Hang on," _she thought, _"He already channelled wind and lightning chakra through that sword… does this mean he has three affinities?"_

Her head jerked around and she looked across the bridge as she saw Zabuza fly backwards with the outline of a boot imprinted on his chest. A second later, Hikaru Namikaze pursued him with his katana in one hand and a blue ball of spinning chakra in the other.

Haku allowed a soft hiss to issue from between her teeth before she began flashing between mirrors again.

Sasuke was cursing under his breath as the mysterious hunter-nin continued to move between their mirrors faster than he could track. The irritation he was feeling made him unconsciously channel chakra to his eyes, and there was an odd feeling like something snapped inside his head. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he realized that he could _see_ the hunter-nin's moves; actually _see_ them.

Haku looked into the dark-haired boy's eyes in passing and glimpsed the red irises. Realizing he had a kekkei genkai like her, she immediately decided she needed to end both of them. Flashing around to the blond boy's front, she unleashed a volley of senbon at him.

-WJGW-

Sasuke's Sharingan predicted what the hunter-nin was about to do before she did it. After this realization reached his brain, it was pure instinct (or something else; Sasuke would never know what made him move) that drove him to twist on the spot, grab Naruto and throw the blond behind him, turning his back to the blizzard of senbon before it could strike the blond down.

Naruto felt a small amount of blood spatter across his face as he hit the ground. Looking up, he saw Sasuke standing over him, his back completely riddled with senbon.

"Why?" croaked Naruto, staring up at his team-mate.

Sasuke smirked down at him as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, "Hikaru-sensei'd kill me if I let you die. We're a team, after all, and you can't help me kill Itachi if you're dead."

-WJGW-

Haku blinked in shock. She hadn't been expecting the boy with the kekkei genkai to get in the way.

A horrendous noise from the other side of the bridge briefly drew her attention away from the two boys. She saw the blond jōnin and her master exchanging a flurry of blows so quick that the impact sounds melded into one loud crescendo.

Turning her attention back to the two boys, she saw that the blond was holding the black-haired boy in his arms and staring down at him in shock.

They boy looked up at her then, and she caught a glimpse of red irises with slit pupils as a certain aura began filling the air.

-WJGW-

Hikaru felt the Kyūbi's aura starting to leak out and realized that Haku must have brought Sasuke down. Knowing he only had one more option and Zabuza had sufficient skill to keep him back, Hikaru blocked Zabuza's blade and reached into his belt, hooking his middle finger through the ring of a single tri-pointed kunai and sliding it out of the holder.

Zabuza had just drawn his blade back for another blow when he saw the kunai his opponent held in his hand, as well as the apologetic look.

"Zabuza-san?" he said, "Sorry about this," and he vanished in a flash of yellow light.

Zabuza saw his opponent disappear in a flash of light and understandably for people experiencing the Hiraishin for the first time, did not manage to react in time to prevent the blow to the back of his head which sent him crashing onto his knees blinking stars from his eyes.

-WJGW-

Haku watched in shock as the blond-haired boy rose from the ground, wreathed in red chakra and snarling with fury. _"What is this chakra? …so filled with bloodlust!"_

Quicker than Haku could react, the blond suddenly blurred forwards. One of her mirrors, which had never been broken by anything before, not even the chakra blade the boy wielded, shattered into tiny fragments. Haku was barely fast enough to get out of one of the fragments and shoot into another mirror, but the blond tracked her with an incredible degree of accuracy, pulverising the mirror she had jumped into and forcing her into another.

Things progressed in this way until there was only a single mirror left intact; the one looking directly down on the rampaging genin from above. Haku knew she only had one shot before the genin found her; forming a mass of ice senbon, she fired them straight down out of the mirror.

Her eyes widened a second later when the ice senbon melted on contact with the boy's chakra cloak. He looked straight up, and Haku knew instantly that she had made a terrible mistake in attacking him. She had given herself away.

Naruto leapt, the mirror broke on contact with his shoulder and Haku was borne over onto her back. Naruto landed on top of her and was just about to kill her when a hand entered her field of vision and planted a seal on the genin's forehead.

Hikaru's face entered her sight a second later as the red chakra cloak faded and Naruto blinked to himself for a second before getting off the girl's chest.

Haku blinked as Hikaru smiled at her and held out a hand, which she took a second later and permitted him to pull her to her feet and brush flecks of powdered ice from her shoulders, "Are you alright, Haku?"

Haku nodded quietly before turning to look at her master, who was stumbling upright using his sword as a support, "Is Zabuza-sama alright?"

Hikaru nodded, "Yes, just a little dazed."

Haku opened her mouth to reply when something silvery glanced off the side of her head, knocking her to the ground.

Both Hikaru and Naruto looked up to see Gatō standing at the head of a gang of mercenaries.

The small man smiled unpleasantly, "That's put paid to her. Seems it didn't quite kill her though, but I'm sure my men can enjoy themselves with her before she dies. As for you," he turned to look at Zabuza who was stumbling in their direction, "you're a disgrace. Luckily for me I never intended to pay you, just have you killed after the job was done, or I'd have lost quite a lot of money to your failure."

Zabuza stared at the midget for a long moment before turning to Hikaru, "Do you want him or can I have him?"

Hikaru stepped back, "He's all yours, Zabuza-san."

Zabuza's bandaged face twitched slightly with what Hikaru guessed was a smile, "Thank you. And since he turned on me, I think I might take you up on that offer now."

Hikaru smirked, "Go get them first, and then we can hash out an agreement. I have my own plans for the Yondaime Mizukage."

Zabuza hefted the Kubikiribōchō, "Then why not join me in the slaughter and we can have our little chit-chat."

Hikaru smirked, "I like the way you think, my good man." He drew his katana.

As the tall blond formed a blue ball of chakra in his free hand and Zabuza tightened his grip on his own weapon, the mercenaries behind Gatō glanced at each other, evidently wondering whether they ought to be running or not.

It took perhaps a minute and a half for them to realize that running was their best option. Between them, Zabuza and the Leaf jōnin cut down about a quarter of the mercenaries before the rest decided to vacate the area.

Gatō stood alone at the end of the bridge, his mercenaries having leapt off the bridge in their haste to escape him, as the two jōnin approached him, "Wait, wait, wait! I was joking about the whole thing, the money doesn't matter! I'll pay both of you double what I was going to give him if you let me go!"

Hikaru stopped, "That sounds like a good deal, actually. However I like this deal more. Zabuza? You can do the honours!"

Zabuza nodded and drew his foot back to kick the corrupt little midget off the bridge, but before he could bring it forwards again something shot over Zabuza's shoulder and hit Gatō squarely in the chest.

Hikaru blinked as he watched the magnate take three steps backwards before looking down at the crossbow bolt embedded in his chest, then tipping backwards and plummeting off the bridge into the water. Both jōnin stared after him for a long moment before turning to see what had happened.

Inari was standing about eighty feet back on the bridge at the head of what looked like all the villagers; his eyes wide, one hand over his mouth in shock and the other holding a crossbow.

"Hmm," said Hikaru conversationally, "I'd say you just got trumped by an eight-year-old, albeit by accident."

Zabuza snorted, "Now that's embarrassing. This isn't going to get out is it; it could ruin my reputation as the Demon of the Hidden Mist?"

Hikaru shook his head, "Nope. Though would you still care to become the Demon of the Hidden _Leaf_?"

Zabuza glanced over at Haku for a second and did not reply.

Hikaru looked over too, "I understand. You can bring Haku with you too. Besides, I think she's becoming a little attached to one of my genin."

Zabuza glanced over at him, "What?"

Hikaru chuckled, "This past week or so, I've known she was watching us the whole time. Or more accurately, watching Sasuke."

Zabuza looked over at his servant/apprentice, who was currently removing the senbon from Sasuke's back. The expression on her face as she worked on the dark-haired genin told Zabuza exactly what he needed to know. "Alright," he said, finally, "But I still want your help bringing down the Yondaime Mizukage."

"Well," said Hikaru, "There's actually a very interesting story behind that…"

-WJGW-

The next day, after a good night's rest, Hikaru and Naruto replaced the workers who had refused to continue working on the bridge with a horde of shadow clones who worked through the night. All it took was one look at Tazuna's blueprints and the bridge was finished by the next evening as the clones worked through the night and the entire day.

Therefore they were all ready to leave the day after the bridge was completed, but Tazuna (and most of the village) had insisted that they stay a little longer.

Inari had been very quiet since he had accidentally killed Gatō. Hikaru had managed to make him feel moderately better by explaining that sometimes heroes had to kill people in order to protect those they loved, bringing up examples such as the Yondaime's slaying three hundred Iwa nin with one jutsu.

"Does it ever get easier? Killing, I mean?" asked the boy the night after the bridge was completed while he and the tall jōnin were sitting looking up at the stars at the back of the house.

Hikaru, sitting next to him, patted his shoulder, "No, not really. It'll be harder for you since you're just a civilian, whereas I've pretty much been brought up knowing I will eventually have to kill people."

Inari turned to look at the man, "So how do you deal with it? I know you killed a load of those thugs on the bridge."

Hikaru frowned, turning to look up at the moon for a long moment before he responded, "I usually tell myself that they're in my way when I'm trying to protect my precious people. I picked that up from a very wise young girl about ten years ago, and it's been what I live my life by ever since. If I can fight to defend my precious people, then I will do it. The Yondaime fought those Iwa-nins, fought the Kyūbi, in order to protect his precious people, The Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages died protecting their precious people, and I fully intend to protect my own precious people to my last breath."

Inari listened to this for a long minute before he moved closer and hugged the tall jōnin, "Thank you Hikaru-sama."

Hikaru chuckled, "Hikaru-_sama_?"

Inari echoed the chuckle, before Hikaru patted him on top of the head, "Let's go, little guy, your mother will worry if we stay out too late."

Inari pouted, but followed obediently as the Namikaze led him back into the house.

-WJGW-

A week later, Hikaru stood beside the bridge out of Wave with his genin, Zabuza and Haku.

Tazuna stood at the head of the swarm of villagers, a number of whom (much to the blond jōnin's embarrassment) were holding signs proclaiming their love for him. When Sasuke made a snide remark to him about now knowing what it felt like to have a fan-club, Hikaru clipped him round the ear for it.

They were waved off amid a storm of cheering and clapping, and as soon as they reached the other end of the bridge, all six took off at top speed towards Konoha.

-WJGW-

Fangirls, Hikaru reflected with an exasperated air as they entered the gates of Konoha, must have some kind of inbuilt sensor which tells them when the subject of their affection is in the vicinity.

No sooner had Sasuke taken so much as a step over the boundary of Konoha when the Uchiha fan-club descended upon him like jackals on meat. "Sasuke-kun!" said Sakura, "Come on, you must be tired after your long mission!"

Hikaru cleared his throat, "Ladies, as much as it entertains the rest of us to watch you terrorize Sasuke, he needs to come with us for the moment; we need to deliver our report to the Hokage."

One of the other girls, evidently a civilian by her garb, giggled, "That stuffy old codger can wait; nothing can get in the way of true love! Right, Sasuke-kun?"

Hikaru opened his mouth to insist, but then something odd happened.

The civilian girl found her wrist being held in the air by Haku, who was also holding a fistful of ice senbon in her other hand. "If Sasuke-san says he's too busy, he's too busy."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the newcomer, "And you are?"

Haku gave the girl an unpleasant smile, "Nobody you need to know."

"Fine," sneered Sakura, "But stay away from Sasuke-kun! He's ours!"

Haku's eyes flashed, "You make it sound like you _own_ him!"

Sakura growled, "That's because he will eventually be ours…" she checked the girl's headband, "Mist bitch!"

Haku's eyes flashed, but before she could perforate the presumptuous pinkette, Hikaru snapped, "Sakura! That is enough! Take your friends and get out of here, leave Sasuke alone!"

The girls all glared at the jōnin until he raised a hand towards the hilt of his katana, at which point they stalked off, sulking.

Zabuza considered his servant/apprentice, "Haku, are you feeling alright?"

Haku was breathing hard as she allowed the senbon in her hand to melt, "Yes, I am fine."

Hikaru glanced between the girl and Haku, thinking hard for a second before he said, "Anyway, let's get going. The Hokage will want my mission report, and we need to get you two headbands."

He set off along the street, the rest of the group following him.

**(A/N: …And that concludes the second chapter of When Jutsu Go Wrong. This took me a long time to write for some reason, but for the same reason Kunai is taking an equally long time. I currently have 7,260 words to the next chapter of Kunai, hopefully I can squeeze out another 5k or so before I post it. I'm kind of excited, in a way; Kunai has nearly reached its conclusion. Only three arcs left now, which should only take a couple of chapters plus the current one I'm writing. Unfortunately it does seem to be running out of steam (I guess it's been a really good run already, so I have no regrets about it), so the quality of my writing in that story **_**might**_** go down a tad. Anyway, I reckon I'm starting to ramble a little so I will simply say I hope you enjoyed the chapter and goodnight! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	3. The Exams Begin

When Jutsu Go Wrong

Chapter Three: The Exams Begin

**(A/N: Hey all, Leonineus here. I just want to say: Is it really that much of a difference that I decided to put Haku with Sasuke? Chilord pulled it off with his story Bondage Style and that was yaoi, is it really that odd that I went for a het attempt at a pairing that as far as I know has only happened ONCE and that's in Bondage Style? I'd like everybody to know that if it helps change your minds, Haku isn't going to be Sasuke's only girl. Yes, the non-emotard Sasuke will get a harem, as will Hikaru and Naruto! Well, enjoy the chapter!)**

**(A/N: Oh yeah, another thing. I keep getting reviews saying that I need to stop referring to Hikaru as Naruto. For your information (I'm not mad, just tired of hearing it), I actually check over the whole document for that very mistake about six times before I post it. If I refer to "Hikaru" or "the taller blond", I'm talking about older!Naruto/Hikaru. If I refer to "Naruto" or "the shorter blond", I'm referring to younger!Naruto. Now that we've cleared that little misunderstanding up, enjoy the chapter!)**

"So you see," said Hikaru, sitting back in his seat and looking at the Hokage across from him, "Orochimaru has entered into an agreement with Suna to invade during the Chūnin Exams."

Sarutobi was listening calmly, "This is serious. Anything else you can tell me?"

Hikaru nodded, "The Ichibi jinchūriki is coming to take part in the exams. He'll be part of the plan. His name is Sabaku no Gaara. Red hair, teal eyes, kanji for love above his left eye, wears a massive gourd on his back. His team-mates are a boy with a bandaged puppet on his back and face paint; he wears a hooded outfit with cat ears; and a girl with four blonde ponytails and a big fan. There'll also be a team you'll want to warn the proctors about; they wear headbands with a song note on them, from the Village Hidden in the Sound; a bandaged guy with a large gauntlet on one hand, another guy with a weird headband that frames half of his face like Tenzō has; and a dark-haired girl."

Sarutobi nodded, "Understood. I'll spread their descriptions to my ANBU and have the ANBU keep an especially close eye on all of them."

Hikaru nodded, "Right. Just one thing, make sure they don't engage Gaara, under any circumstances! He may be a genin but he's got skills surpassing most jōnin."

-WJGW-

Hikaru walked out of the office fifteen minutes later to find Hiashi standing there looking distinctly uncomfortable, "Hey, what's up Hiashi-san?"

Hiashi's face went from irritability to worry and back again for a few minutes before he said, "The elders found out about the betrothal contract. They're calling it in."

-WJGW-

Back in his office, Sarutobi jumped in his chair as a deafening yell of "WHAT?" echoed through the door.

Getting up, he strode over to the door and stuck his head out. Hikaru was standing with Hiashi Hyūga some way down the corridor, a shocked look on his face. "What are you shouting about, Hikaru-san?" he asked.

Hiashi spoke since Hikaru was still evidently in shock, "Hikaru-san and I brokered a betrothal contract between his second cousin and my daughter so that she would be protected from the clan seal. It backfired somewhat."

Sarutobi turned fierce eyes on Hikaru, "Hikaru-san, I recall asking you to _ask _me _before_ you did things like this?"

Hikaru swallowed, "I didn't actually intend for them to call it in, it was just intended to protect Hinata…"

Sarutobi looked over at Hiashi, who nodded, "It's true."

Sarutobi sighed and palmed his face before saying, "Never mind."

Hikaru nodded before turning to Hiashi, "You need to explain to Hinata. I'll collect Naruto from the training fields and get him home."

Hiashi nodded, and they went their separate ways.

-WJGW-

"YOU DID WHAT?" Naruto roared.

Hikaru looked uncomfortable, "Hiashi and I set up a betrothal contract between you and Hinata as a means of protecting her. You see, the Hyūga clan consists of two families, the Main family and the Branch family. The Hyūga Elders disapprove of Hinata as a potential heiress to the Hyūga clan, and they want to seal her Byakugan and make her a Branch family member."

Naruto folded his arms, "Right…"

Hikaru looked him right in the eye, deciding on the spot that in this case, a little lie couldn't hurt, "Naruto, this is very important. If Hinata is branded with the Caged Bird Seal and placed into the Branch Family, her life will be hell until the day she dies. She'll be relegated to a life as nothing but a slave to the main family and their whims," he explained carefully, trying to make the shorter blonde understand. "That includes but is not limited to forcing her to end her shinobi career, torturing her with pain from the seal just because they don't like her or she doesn't follow orders to the letter, and perhaps even making her into a sex slave for their own pleasure or a breeder to make more Hyūga."

Naruto looked stunned. Hikaru snapped his fingers in front of the blond genin's face, "Hello, you in there?"

Naruto blinked, seemingly coming back to himself. Hikaru folded his arms, sitting down in the chair opposite him, "You fazed out there for a minute."

Naruto seemed not to register what he said, "Are you serious about that?"

Hikaru kept a straight face as he nodded grimly.

"Alright," said Naruto, "I'll do it."

-WJGW-

Across town, Hiashi had sat his eldest daughter down in the study and began explaining the betrothal contract to her. So far she hadn't fainted… yet. Then again he hadn't told her who she was to be betrothed to, but it was only a matter of time.

"Ano, father," said Hinata timidly.

Hiashi sighed; he really hated the elders for what they'd done to his eldest daughter, even if she was starting to revert back to the way she was before the Hyūga Affair, back to the smart, brave girl she had been, she was still having brief moments when her timid self came through, "Yes, Hinata?"

"Who am I to be betrothed to?"

Hiashi smiled, "I haven't told you that yet, have I? Alright, the man you are going to be betrothed to is a member of a very strong clan of Konoha; his guardian and I set this up because we thought you two would get along very well."

Hinata's heart sank; evidently she would not be with Naruto.

Hiashi noticed his daughter's sudden despondency and decided to cut to the chase, "The person I speak of, of course, is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."

Hinata looked up, blinking, "Sorry?"

"I said," said Hiashi, smiling slightly as he did so, "The boy you are betrothed to is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."

Hinata's head was spinning with this revelation that she was betrothed to the boy of her dreams. Finally, there was only one possible reaction she could come up with.

Hiashi smirked, _"Three… two… one…" _There was a dull thud from the other side of the table as Hinata fainted.

He chuckled briefly before moving around the desk to rouse his daughter.

-WJGW-

"So how _did_ you convince Naruto to go through with this?" asked Hiashi a couple of days later, as Naruto and Hinata stood hand-in-hand in front of the Hokage and he allowed the two of them to slip their betrothal rings onto each other's ring fingers.

Hikaru chuckled, "I inferred that should he refuse, Hinata would be relegated to the Branch House and her life would then be nothing but misery and a haze of assault, bullying and torment for the rest of her life."

Hiashi frowned, "You lied."

Hikaru shrugged, "I… I implied."

"A gamble on his sense of justice."

"An act of faith in my cousin's drive to do the right thing, besides we both know that what I told him wasn't really far from the truth. Maybe now that those two are engaged, Naruto will be able to help her with turning the Hyūga Clan around in time."

Hiashi smiled, "You do realize that I cannot now make Hinata the heiress to the Hyūga Clan as she has married into another clan?"

Hikaru turned to look at Hiashi, "Then we'll persuade them to help Hanabi with turning the clan around. I have all faith in my cousin's ability to change them for the better or, in the case of the elders, give them a good kick up the backside."

Hiashi snorted slightly with laughter before he pressed a finger to his lips and pointed back towards the Hokage.

Hikaru turned back just in time to hear Sarutobi say, "By the power vested in me as the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, I hereby pronounce you both betrothed."

Naruto gave Hinata a gentle kiss on the cheek and Hikaru's grin widened as the anti-fainting tag he'd drawn up on the spur of the moment and slapped on Hinata's back while nobody was looking did its job.

Hiashi moved away to congratulate the newly-engaged couple, so Hikaru took the opportunity to sidle up to Hinata from behind and pull the tag off her back with two fingers.

He noticed Hiashi glaring at him, the effect somewhat enhanced by the man's lack of any pupils. Realizing what he wanted, Hikaru gently gripped Naruto's shoulder and escorted him away to give the father and daughter some privacy.

-WJGW-

Team 7 met up on their training ground the next morning bright and early. Sasuke was very interested in the story of how Hinata's betrothal to Naruto came about, and it was with a certain level of sheepishness that Hikaru admitted that it had partially been his fault.

Sasuke had insisted on getting the story behind that, which had led to Naruto asking him if it was true what he had told him about the Hyūga clan. That had, in turn, led to Hikaru looking guiltier and guiltier until finally Naruto called him on the fact that Hikaru had lied to him.

It had taken a further hour for Naruto to calm down enough to see that Hikaru hadn't exactly lied to him; more told him what he needed to hear in order to make the right decision. When he had finally sat down and started paying attention again, Hikaru had passed all three forms to fill out, "These are your applications for the Chūnin Exams."

Hinata looked up, "You really think we're capable of achieving chūnin in our first year, sensei?"

Hikaru nodded, smiling, "I have every faith that the three of you can achieve chūnin this year." He grinned, "All three of you are to sign those forms and get them in before the exam starts."

"_And I need to deal with Gaara's seal before he goes nuts completely," _he thought to himself, _"I'll go into the village later today to intercept him."_

Out loud he said, "I'll see you three later."

"Wait!" said Naruto, "Can't we have a hint as to what the tasks are?"

Hikaru smirked at his younger self, "Afraid not. You'll have to _gather information_ on those by yourselves." He vanished in a swirl of leaves before any of them could respond.

"Dammit!" shouted Naruto into the air, "I hate it when he does that!"

Hinata smiled at Naruto's actions, while Sasuke chuckled. Naruto rounded on the Uchiha, "Don't you have to go hang out with Haku-chan?"

Sasuke's smile widened as he remembered the ice-user, "Yes, indeed I do. I will see you both later!" he shot off.

Naruto turned to Hinata, "Is it just me… or does he seem to have a crush on her to you too?"

Hinata nodded and smiled, "Want to get some ramen, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded happily before grabbing Hinata's hand and towing her away.

-WJGW-

Hikaru stopped, landing on a rooftop overlooking the street along which he _knew_ the Sand Siblings would come before jumping down to the ground.

"Hey, boss!"

He turned. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon were walking along the street towards him. Konohamaru stopped and frowned, "Sorry, I thought you were my boss."

Hikaru grinned, "You must be Konohamaru. I've heard a lot about you. And I also know who you're talking about; I'm Naruto's sensei and his second cousin."

He noticed Moegi blushing as her eyes roamed across his body and winced; he had forgotten that might happen. The girl was at almost exactly the right age to be starting to notice boys for the first time and like Tenten, she seemed to have picked him.

Konohamaru scratched the back of his head, "So you're boss's sensei… mind teaching me a jutsu? I need to surpass the boss for the job of Hokage!"

Hikaru grinned, crouching in front of the boy, "Are you sure you want to do that? Being Hokage is a massive responsibility. You might not be up to the job."

Konohamaru stuck his tongue out, "That's what you think."

"Well," said Hikaru, "I'm afraid I have to train Naruto and my other two genin for the Chūnin Exams at this point. After the exams, I'll get in touch with your sensei and ask if I can take the three of you on for the day, alright?"

Konohamaru grinned, "That'll be great! See you then!" He beckoned to his friends and ran off around the corner.

There was a muffled thud and a shout of, "You brat! That hurt!"

Hikaru's smile widened slightly and he disappeared in a shunshin.

-WJGW-

Temari was watching her brother grip the small boy by the collar and shout at him when she heard a soft rushing sound and a leaf suddenly floated past her face.

Raising a hand to her fan, she froze when she felt the blade of a kunai press itself against the back of her neck, "K-Kankurō!"

Kankurō turned to see a tall blond man standing behind his sister, smiling at him, "You have thirty seconds in which to explain why you are holding the Hokage's grandson like that before I knock the two of you unconscious and drag you to the ANBU. I see you are both visiting Suna shinobi but I warn you that you cannot behave as you are within the walls of this village."

Kankurō scowled, "Let my sister go or I'll…"

Temari stuttered, "Kankurō! Don't be a fool!"

"Kankurō…" said a quiet voice a second later from behind the tree to their left, "Cease your stupidity or I'll kill you."

Hikaru had to force down the urge to rush across and hug Gaara as he emerged from behind the tree. The memory of his old friend was almost too much for him.

"G-Gaara!" stammered Kankurō, "We… we were just…"

Gaara held up a hand and turned to Hikaru, locking eyes with him.

Kankurō and Temari, who had by now moved away from Hikaru over to her brother's side, looked nervously between them. Finally, Gaara looked away, "Come. Baki wants us all to return home."

As he left, Hikaru spoke, "You; you are a jinchūriki, are you not?"

Gaara turned his head slowly to face him, a slight glitter in his teal eyes, "Why? Do you desire to erase my existence?"

Hikaru shook his head, pointing at his lower stomach, "I can fix that seal. Looking at your eyes, I'd say it's faulty. Voice in your head? Can't sleep?"

Gaara turned fully towards Hikaru, his arms folded, "Yes…"

Hikaru folded his arms, "Well I'm pretty good at fūinjutsu. I could have a look and see if I can't fix it."

Gaara stared at him for a minute before turning away again. A second later, Hikaru's hand was resting on his shoulder, "I'm serious. Nobody should have to deal with such a demon's psyche leaking into theirs, even if it is the weakest of them all."

Temari's and Kankurō's jaws dropped as they turned back and saw the hand resting on Gaara's shoulder. Gaara turned his head to look up at the blond jōnin for a second before he said, "I will… think on it."

Hikaru smiled before saying, "Very well. Good luck in the Chūnin Exams. You're going to need it."

Without waiting for a response, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Are you really going to take him up on it, Gaara?"

Gaara turned to look at his sibling, "Of course."

Kankurō frowned, "But what about our father's plan?"

Temari made to reply, but was interrupted as Hikaru reappeared, "Oh yeah, forgot to say something. You guys are lucky you arrived two weeks before the exam officially begins, because if I do fix your seal you're going to have to take control of your abilities yourself, because he," he jabbed a finger at Gaara's abdomen, "won't be able to do it for you any more."

He vanished again without another word.

The three Sand siblings stared at the place where he had been for a long minute before Kankurō said, "Do… do you think he knows?"

Temari shook her head, "There's no way."

Gaara said nothing; simply continued to stare at the spot where the blond jōnin had been, thinking.

-WJGW-

The Sand siblings had explained to Baki about their encounter with the odd jōnin, so none of them were surprised that evening when there was a knock at the door and Temari answered it to find the tall blond standing in front of her, smiling, "Hello, I'm here to see a man about a seal?"

She tentatively let him in, and he sat down across from Gaara in the sitting room.

In the attic space above the sitting room, the two ANBU on watch exchanged glances before returning to looking down through the gaps in the ceiling.

"I'm not going to lie to you Gaara," said Hikaru, "What I'm going to do is going to hurt. You ever seen an iron maiden? It'll feel like that, except in reverse."

Baki stepped in, looking concerned, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Hikaru turned to look at him, "Better in pain for half an hour and completely sane at the end of it, than in pain almost permanently as well as being tormented by your own mind."

Baki couldn't seem to find a counter-argument to that, so he simply said, "We don't even know your name…?"

"It's Hikaru. Hikaru Namikaze."

Baki stepped back, "Well in that case, Hikaru Namikaze, I have no complaints."

Inwardly he was thinking, _"Shit! How am I going to explain to the Kazekage that this shinobi has ruined his plans single-handedly?"_

Hikaru grinned to himself before turning back to Gaara and taking out some of his sealing supplies, drawing up a quick stasis seal, "Alright, first I'm going to need to seal your chakra so that the bijuu doesn't go rampant while I'm doing this, so roll up your shirt and stay absolutely still. Make sure you channel a little chakra so I know where to aim as well."

Gaara did as instructed, sitting back in his chair and rolling up his shirt. Hikaru drew one hand back, a small purple fire lighting up on the tips of his fingers and thumb, "Gogyō Fūin!" and thrust his hand into Gaara's seal as it appeared.

Gaara immediately passed out, causing the other three Suna shinobi to flinch, but when nothing happened Temari worked up the nerve to ask, "Um, what did you just do?"

Hikaru smiled at her, "Don't worry, I just sealed it behind another seal. By the way, which one is it I'm dealing with here?"

Baki blinked, "The Ichibi no Shukaku."

As if summoned, Gaara's eyes flew open, revealing black sclera and gold diamond-shaped pupils, **"Hell yeah! I'm free! I'm gonna kill every last one of you male weaklings and make your women beg for mercy!"**

A tic-mark appeared on Hikaru's head before he snapped, "That's enough out of you!" and dropped the possessed boy to the floor with a single right hook to the jaw.

Baki, Temari and Kankurō all gaped at the Leaf jōnin who had just dropped a bijuu with a single blow like it was nothing. Finally Hikaru turned to them and said, "I think I just knocked the Shukaku for six, mind helping me get Gaara back onto the couch before he comes back for another round?"

Temari hurried forwards and helped him lift her little brother onto the couch again.

Thanking Temari and slapping the stasis seal onto Gaara's stomach before the seal could disappear again; Hikaru dipped one finger into the ink, deciding to forgo the brush in favour of making sure each line was perfect.

-WJGW-

"Finished!" he said happily, sitting back and looking at the finished seal.

Baki moved forwards to look, as did Kankurō and Temari. The seal resembled a large whirlpool shape with kanji making up the lines that gave it its shape.

Hikaru drew his hand back again, small flames kindling on the tips of his fingers once more before he thrust his hand into Gaara's stomach, "Gogyō Kaiin!"

Gaara stirred, blinking sleepily before jerking straight upright, "I can still hear him… but now I can mute him. And why does my jaw hurt… a lot?"

Hikaru grinned, ruffling the other boy's hair and causing the three other Suna shinobi in the room to twitch slightly, "Sorry, Shukaku took advantage when you passed out, but he seems to not be used to getting his ass whipped when possessing his jinchūriki, only took me one strike to have him seeing stars go round."

Gaara stared blankly at him, "Is that why he's telling me I need to crush you to death with my sand right now?"

Hikaru chuckled, "Probably. Isn't my fault he has a glass jaw though, that's his own fault for not getting used to getting the crap kicked out of him at a young age, or whatever the equivalent is for the bijuu. Anyway back to business. Your chakra control is going to be all out of whack for a bit, and your new seal has to have time to settle down. Not only that but since Shukaku's kept you awake for so long all you're going to want to do for the next forty-eight hours is nap, but that should also give your seal a chance to acclimatize to your body. After you wake up, you should feel even better than you currently do, then you can start working on your chakra control and controlling whatever abilities the Shukaku gives you again. It shouldn't take too much effort to get back to your previous level of skill. Oh and another thing; I've heard of your reputation. No crushing people from this village during the exam, alright? That's frowned upon around these parts and your how-squishy-can-shinobi-be quota will have to be put on hold."

Gaara shrugged, "That's fine with me. Shukaku was the one who drove me to that most of the time, and now that he can't influence me I can cut back on that a little."

"G-Gaara!" stammered Baki, seeing his master's plans for Konoha crumbling to dust before his eyes.

Gaara turned his eyes on the veiled jōnin, "What?"

Baki did not reply, so Gaara turned to Hikaru and smiled. It wasn't an insane smile like the ones Hikaru had seen during this period back in his own time, but an honest, friendly smile. "I will see you out, Namikaze-sama. I feel the urge to sleep setting in."

Hikaru patted him on the head again, "You do that. Oh and put some ice on that jaw, it's starting to swell a little."

"_Come to think of it," _he thought, _"When the snake bastard hit me with that jutsu about ten years ago, I couldn't use Kyūbi's chakra until the ero-sennin sorted me out again. So how was Shukaku able to take possession…? Maybe it was something to do with the seals. Yeah, that was probably it."_

His internal thoughts were interrupted as Gaara tugged on his sleeve. Smiling at the boy, he followed him out of the sitting room, leaving the other three Suna shinobi standing there utterly dumbstruck.

At the door, Gaara suddenly stopped and blinked sleepily for a second, swaying ever so slightly. Hikaru noticed, "The urge to sleep is catching up with you, huh?"

Gaara nodded, so Hikaru opened the door. Before stepping out he said, "You know, there _are _eight others like you. If you like, I can introduce you to one of them. It might be nice for you to have somebody to talk to who can really understand you."

Without waiting for a response from the redhead, he stepped out and closed the door, immediately disappearing in a shunshin.

-WJGW-

He landed in the middle of the main street, directly outside Ichiraku Ramen, coincidentally. Looking around for a second he said out loud, "I know you're there. Come out where I can see you."

Three figured stepped out from between the buildings in front of him. He smiled when he saw a trench coat over a miniskirt and mesh bodysuit right in front of him, "Well hello there, Anko-chan. Nice to see you again. Did you miss me? Come here and I'll give you a hug!"

Using the banter to shield his true intentions, he felt behind him and recognized the chakra signatures of Yūgao Uzuki and Kurenai Yūhi.

Anko sashayed closer to him, smirking at him in a way that would make any prisoner in the ANBU cells wet themselves just looking at it, "Me and my little friends are still a little annoyed about how you treated us back during our little spar, Hikaru-_kun_. Therefore _you _are going to take each of us out for a date of an evening to make up for it."

Hikaru smiled pleasantly back, "Are you sure you will be able to keep up with me? I'm as much of a stamina junkie as my cousin."

Anko licked her lips, "All the same, you're taking me out tonight, Nai-chan tomorrow night and Yūgao-chan the night after that."

Hikaru smirked, "Alright then, let's go see how well you hold your liquor. Bet you can't hold it better than me!"

Anko blinked at him in shock before she snarled and turned to Yūgao and Kurenai, "You hear that? He thinks he's a better drinker than me! Come on then, and I'll annihilate you and make you beg for mercy!"

Hikaru allowed her to grab hold of his arm, creating a shadow clone and instructing it to tell Naruto that he'd be returning late tonight. The clone nodded once and vanished as Anko towed the original off down the street.

-WJGW-

They ended up sitting in a bar frequented by many jōnin and chūnin, who all took an interest when Anko entered ranting about teaching him a lesson.

Soon they sat side-by-side at the bar, surrounded by eager shinobi placing bets on the outcome. "You might want to surrender now," said Hikaru, "I've been winning drinking contests since you were wearing a training bra." Not exactly true, but who didn't like smack-talk during a drinking contest?

Anko bared her teeth at him, "Bring it on, Namikaze, I'll crush you in fifteen minutes!"

The bartender, used to Anko's drinking contests, decided to play judge. Setting a saucer of thirty-percent proof sake down in front of each of them he said, "Begin!"

Thirty minutes of constant drinking later, Anko was swaying slightly in her seat while Hikaru looked barely tipsy. Numerous jōnin and chūnin were openly gaping at the Yondaime's cousin as he set down his saucer for what must have been the fortieth time and turned to look at Anko, "Give up yet? You must realize that you can't beat me!"

Anko pointed a finger at the three copies of Hikaru that she could see, "You… you musht be cheating! Yesh, that'sh it! You're cheating to make yourshelf win!"

Hikaru gave her a pleasant smile that made Kurenai blush where she stood behind Anko to make sure she didn't fall off her seat, "Not cheating. I just have a titanium liver."

"YOSH!" boomed Gai from the middle of the throng surrounding the two combatants, "This is a most youthful contest! Hikaru-san; let your flames of youth EXPLODE!"

Hikaru gave the man a small wave, inwardly _very_ thankful for the fact that despite having long since assimilated the Kyūbi's soul, the traits he received as its jinchūriki were still his own. That included the Kyūbi's chakra burning any alcohol straight out of his bloodstream, so he had been completely sober ever since they started drinking.

Anko jabbed her finger at him again, "You're lying! You are cheating, I shwear it! Nobody beatsh Anko Mitarashi at a drinking contesht!"

Hikaru smiled, "There's always a first time for everything, hebi-hime!"

Anko shook her head sharply, "No! I won't be beaten here today!" She groped for the sake bottle, but missed by about a foot thanks to her triple vision.

Hikaru picked it up before she could aim again, "You've already lost, hebi-hime. Your brain just hasn't realized it yet."

Anko swung at him blindly with a kunai, before she dropped it and her head hit the bar. She was snoring in seconds as numerous jōnin and chūnin grumbled or cheered. Numerous sums of money changed hands.

Hikaru laughed as he leaned over and picked up the kunai, pocketing it.

Kurenai looked at her friend with concern before Hikaru leaned over and picked her up bridal-style, "Where does she live? I'll take her home."

Kurenai gave him a suspicious look, but evidently decided there was no way he'd sink that low. She beckoned to him and they left the bar, Yūgao walking quietly behind them.

-WJGW-

Anko woke up the next morning lying in bed in her flat and had to resist the urge to scream in pain. Her head felt like somebody was punching twelve-inch nails through it.

Rolling her head blearily to the side, Anko spotted a small saucer on the bedside table with a glass of water and some headache medicine.

Swallowing the headache medicine, Anko squinted at a note she had missed at first glance, which sat next to the saucer. Recognizing the scribbles on it as words, she picked it up and held it in front of her eyes, forcing her aching brain to read the words and make them make sense.

_Hebi-hime,_

_Thank you for the night on the town, I thoroughly enjoyed it. You really worried Yūgao-chan and Kurenai-chan when you got that drunk by the way, and I bet you're paying the price for it now. I'll be hanging around Training Ground #7 training my genin for most of the day if you decide you want to come by and chat a little, I'm sure they could benefit from your extensive knowledge._

_Yours,_

_Hikaru_

_P.S._

_I didn't particularly like the little tattoo you had on your shoulder, so I removed it for you. I really hope you don't mind._

Anko continued to stare at the postscript for a long moment, wondering what tattoo he meant before the answer presented itself; _No, surely he didn't…?_

Anko leapt out of bed and staggered across her apartment to the bathroom. Opening the door, she stumbled to the sink and leaned on it as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. With one trembling hand, she pushed the collar of her trench coat back and pulled aside the mesh covering her shoulder.

There was nothing there; nothing but clean, unblemished skin. The final taint that Orochimaru had left on her soul was gone, and as Anko stared blankly at the pure, unbroken skin over her left shoulder, she felt lighter and freer than she ever had before.

For the first time since she was a little girl, before Orochimaru had begun training her, Anko Mitarashi broke down and cried with joy at the removal of the blight on her soul.

-WJGW-

Hikaru was in a good mood; he whistled quietly as he sparred with Naruto while Hinata and Sasuke practiced their respective taijutsu styles some distance away.

"Alright spill it, sensei," said Sasuke after a little while, "You're never in this good a mood usually. What were you doing last night?"

Hikaru's grin broadened, "I'm just having a very good day, Sasuke."

Naruto frowned, "Then why did you come in so late last night?"

Sasuke grinned as well, "Oh I see what happened! You got laid, didn't you sensei?"

Hikaru stared at him, "Whatever gave you that impression?"

Sasuke folded his arms, "Who was she, sensei?"

Hikaru sheathed his katana before folding his own arms, "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, Sasuke, but I did not in fact get laid. Actually for that matter, what's going on between you and Haku-chan? I notice a lot of blushing every time I see you two together and it's beginning to concern me a little. You wouldn't be having any unyouthful thoughts of dear, sweet Haku-chan would you, because if I didn't beat you up for them then I'm sure Zabuza would?"

Sasuke went pale as he thought of the ex-member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist coming after him, "I… I…"

Hikaru shunshined over to his tongue-tied student and patted him sagely on top of the head, "Ahhh, our little Sasuke-kun is growing up so fast. Seems like just yesterday he was ignoring the girls throwing themselves at him left and right…"

Sasuke swiped at his sensei's arm, causing the man to jump away from him and laugh. "You're a pervert, sensei."

Hikaru cackled as he darted back in and ruffled Sasuke's hair, making it even more untidy, "Oh, you ain't seen _nothing _yet, kid!"

Sasuke's retort was cut off by a female voice from behind him, "Hey, Namikaze!"

Hikaru looked up to see Kurenai and Yūgao approaching him and smiled, "Kurenai-chan, Yūgao-chan! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Kurenai looked furious, "What did you do to Anko? We just went to her apartment and she was crying in the bathroom!"

Team 7 looked towards their sensei with wide eyes as he frowned, "Did you ask her _why _she was crying before storming over here to accuse me of assaulting her?" His tone was glacial and the three genin shivered slightly at the sound.

Kurenai opened her mouth, closed it, opened it for a second time before blushing and running off. Hikaru yelled after her, "I'll see you outside Ichiraku Ramen for our date tonight, ok? Or is it off?"

There was no response. Yūgao looked at Hikaru, "So why _was_ Anko crying?"

Hikaru shrugged, "I don't know. Was she particularly fond of that tattoo on her shoulder or something?"

Yūgao's eyes bugged out behind her mask and she reached up to remove it, "That… tattoo? She hates that thing! It's the last reminder of her evil sensei and she's always wanted it gone in all the time I've known her."

Hikaru smiled, "Then she must have been crying out of joy. I could tell it seemed malevolent and thought that she might not want it on her body, so I destroyed it. It wasn't difficult."

Yūgao continued to stare at him for a minute before something struck her, "Hang on, that seal's always under her collar and her fishnet. How did you know it was there?"

Hikaru lied easily, having been told about it by Anko back in his own time just before Kabuto killed her, "When I laid her down to sleep in the bed her trench coat fell open. I could see the outline through her fishnet and couldn't help my curiosity. I didn't see anything, if that's what you're worried about."

Yūgao looked mollified before she said, "Are you entering your team for the Chūnin Exams?"

Hikaru nodded, "Yes, I think they're ready. Speaking of which," he eyed the katana on her back, "Care for a quick spar?"

Yūgao shook her head, "I'm afraid not. Kurenai dragged me off my patrol on her way because she was so infuriated that she found Anko crying in her apartment."

Hikaru nodded, "Ah. Well I'd better send a shadow clone over to see how Anko's handling not having that tattoo any more."

Yūgao smiled as she donned her mask again, "Are you sure that's wise? Since you left a note telling her that you'd removed it she might try and ravish you the second you turn up at her door."

Hikaru simply looked at her for a moment before she shook her head, "Never mind, this is the man who tied her chest-to-chest with another kunoichi and then henged into her before making out with another clone henged into Kurenai."

Hikaru adopted a wistful look, "Good times… but if you're jealous I could add you?"

He was forced to duck under her swipe at his head and could tell she was blushing under her mask, "Pervert!"

Hikaru straightened up and wagged a finger at her, "Ahh, but Yūgao-chan, I am no pervert. I simply have a healthy respect for the feminine form!"

"…so basically you just contradicted yourself _and _you're still a pervert," said Sasuke in the background.

Hikaru threw a kunai at the boy, "Did I say you could stop yet? Get back to practicing your taijutsu! If the three of you don't all get promoted this year I'll kick your asses!"

Yūgao sweat-dropped at how Anko-ish Hikaru seemed to be on occasion. Finally suppressing the urge to giggle, she said, "I'll be going then. I'll see you tomorrow night."

Hikaru grinned and kissed the back of her hand, "Until then, Koneko-chan."

Yūgao giggled at her new nickname of kitten before she disappeared in a shunshin.

Hikaru turned back to see Sasuke scribbling everything he had said down in a notebook. "Fishing for things to say to dear Haku-chan?" teased Hikaru, causing the dark-haired Sharingan-user to blush as crimson as Hinata used to and shove the notebook back into his pocket.

A few minutes passed before Sasuke looked over to where Hikaru and Naruto were sparring again and said, "Hikaru-sensei?"

Hikaru held up a hand to stop Naruto attacking and turned to look at the genin, "Yes?"

Sasuke bit his lip, "Can you teach me kenjutsu?"

Hikaru remembered that the Sasuke from his time had commonly used a katana during the times they had fought, and had killed Hinata with it shortly before Hikaru had come back in time. An irrational surge of anger swelled up inside him but he forced it down, reminding himself that this Sasuke was not the old Sasuke and now never could be.

"_Just as well," _he thought, _"Because if he turned out like he did last time this time, I'd destroy every last trace of him."_

Out loud he said, "If you like. I'll stop by Takeshi Wares tomorrow and talk to them about getting a chakra blade made like the ones Naruto and I carry. Katana, ninjatō or something else?"

Sasuke thought for a second, "Can I come in with you to take a look?"

Hikaru nodded, "Of course."

-WJGW-

That evening, Hikaru met Kurenai outside Ichiraku Ramen and escorted her across town to a seafood restaurant he remembered from his own time.

When Hikaru had tracked down Yūgao and asked her what Kurenai's favourite food was, the purple-haired ANBU had been only too happy to tell him that her favourite food was octopus.

Therefore the first thing Kurenai thought on seeing the restaurant was, _"How did he know?"_

They took a table and placed their orders. As Hikaru expected, Kurenai went for the octopus, while he himself opted for a prawn dish. After all, Yūgao had also told him that ramen was not appropriate food for a date, and Hikaru had started to lose his addiction to the noodle dish in recent years anyway. Eating ramen reminded him too much of Ayame dying in his arms after telling him about the destruction of Konoha, even if the aforementioned waitress was still alive and happy. He wasn't sure why it hadn't affected him during his first week in this time; when he had ramen with Iruka and then his ramen contest with his younger self when he and Naruto ate the Ichiraku family out of stock, but he surmised it must've been because he was still getting used to the new (or old, depending on how he looked at it) surroundings and not thinking about the past.

Kurenai noticed this, "I thought you'd be as much of a ramen freak as the Uzumaki, considering how alike you two look."

Hikaru's eyes flicked up to look into her own crimson ones, "Not as much as I used to. I still like the occasional bowl, but I lost someone dear to me and ramen just makes me remember her."

"What happened to her?"

Hikaru raised his head to look Kurenai full in the face, "I don't really want to talk about it, if that's ok with you. Too many bad memories."

Kurenai nodded and fell silent. When their meals arrived they started eating, but Kurenai watched the Namikaze out of the corner of her eye. He was an enigma to her, and she was now determined to understand him.

Hikaru insisted on walking Kurenai home, seeing her right to her door and bestowing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand before saying goodnight.

Kurenai closed her front door and immediately giggled to herself. He was such a gentleman!

-WJGW-

The next day, Hikaru met Sasuke in front of the Uchiha compound and took him along to Takeshi Wares. Naruto, who needed to replenish his supply of kunai and shuriken, was going to meet up with them there after picking up Hinata for team training.

Tenten's mother was working the counter; she smiled when she saw Hikaru entering, "Hikaru-san! What can I do for you today?"

Hikaru smiled before patting Sasuke on the shoulder, "Sasuke here expressed an interest in learning to use a sword, so I brought him to have a look at the different types so he could decide."

Tenten's mother nodded, beaming as she beckoned Sasuke towards a rack of different swords, "Then you've come to the right place!"

Sasuke perused the rack, occasionally picking up a sword and balancing it in his hand to see if it suited him before replacing it with a gentle shake of his head.

Hikaru was testing the weight of a folding windmill shuriken when the door opened and Naruto entered with Hinata in tow. Hikaru flipped the shuriken back to its folded state and threw it at Naruto, who caught it by the ring.

"Hey, what gives sensei?" Naruto said, looking down at the folded weapon in his hand, "That could've taken out an eye!"

Hikaru frowned, "We both know you would've caught it so quit your whining. All three of you are going to need a lot of weaponry to survive the Chūnin Exams!"

All three genin blinked before nodding at their sensei and wandering off to gather up supplies. Hinata walked up to the sword rack and picked up a weapon which looked like a metal truncheon with two curved points branching out on either side.

"What's this weapon called?" she asked, holding it up.

Tenten's mother turned from where Sasuke was holding a kodachi in one hand, testing its weight to see if it suited him or not and smiled, "That is called a sai, Hyūga-san. It can be used in both lethal and non-lethal ways, which I would surmise makes it an appropriate weapon for you."

Hikaru nodded, "I agree, Hinata. It does sound like your kind of weapon. I know you don't like killing."

Hinata picked up the other sai from its shelf and held both in her hands before nodding, "I like them."

Hikaru smiled, tugging a small wallet out of his pocket and riffling through ryō notes, "There we go then. Sasuke, how are you doing?"

Sasuke scowled, placing the kodachi back on the shelf, "Nothing feels right for me. Hang on…"

His hand shot out and he plucked a long staff with a blade on each end from the rack next door, weighing it in his hand. Tenten's mother beamed, "A wise choice, Uchiha-san! That is a sansetsukon, or three-sectioned staff. If you press her and twist, the staff splits into three parts, meaning that you can either swing one end out like a whip or use them as two separate weapons joined in the middle! While the weapon is locked into its rigid form, you can use it like a bo staff to strike."

Sasuke weighed the weapon in his hand before deciding to test the dividing function. As he twisted the weapon, Naruto suddenly had a feeling of impending doom and leapt forwards; "Don't do tha…"

There was a faint _snick_ sound and Naruto stopped dead, staring dumbly at his hand, which was now missing a couple of fingers. Hinata covered her mouth, "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto continued to stare at his hand for a minute before he shrugged, "They'll grow back. It's handy being a jinchūriki, after all."

Sasuke had dropped the staff, which had embedded itself blades-down in the floor, "Oh Kami, I'm sorry Naruto."

Naruto made to do a nonchalant wave with his hand, but then realized that spattering blood everywhere might not be a good idea and instead shook his head, "It's alright. As I said, they'll grow back."

Hikaru turned to Tenten's mother, who looked aghast, "Ano, sorry about the stains on the floor…"

Tenten's mother shrugged, "Look down."

Hikaru, Naruto (who was now holding his injured hand cautiously so as not to get any more blood on things), Hinata and Sasuke looked down. The floor was solid wood and painted black. Apart from the two fingers sitting on it, the bloodstains were more or less indistinguishable. All Hikaru could say was, "Oh."

Hinata flashed through hand seals before placing her hand flat on the floor, "Suiton: Gyōshuku no Jutsu!" (Condensation Jutsu), causing water to form around her hand, washing away the blood. Hikaru bent over and picked up the fingers, incinerating them with a low-powered fire jutsu.

Tenten's mother looked worried, "Are you sure you'll be alright, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. They'll grow back by tomorrow."

The tall woman turned to Hikaru, who walked over to the window and poured the ashes in his palm out of it, "Don't worry about it. Naruto's got weird regenerative skills. I guess it comes from the Kyūbi."

"Um, Takeshi-san?" said Sasuke, looking at the floor, "I'm sorry."

Tenten's mother smiled, "It is alright, Uchiha-san. While I am a little upset that your friend will now have to re-grow some of his fingers, I have had to reattach my husband's hands before so I am used to it."

Hikaru blinked, "You have had to reattach Tensu-san's… hands?" A mental image of Hidan, the psychotic member of Akatsuki that Shikamaru had told him about, along with his partner who kept sewing him back together, floated through his head.

There was a pause before Hikaru pulled himself together again and said, "Alright then. Grab your kunai, shuriken, whatever else you need and bring it up here. Actually, can we get the sais and staff blades made out of chakra-conductive metal like my katana and Naruto's ninjatō?"

The brunette nodded, "Of course. Actually…" she turned to the two dōjutsu users of Team 7, "What affinities do you two have?"

Sasuke frowned, "Fire and lightning."

Hinata swallowed, "Earth and water."

The woman scratched her chin thoughtfully before turning to Hikaru, "It is a little known fact that chakra-conductive metal come in different variations. For example there are some which are especially useful when the wielder has earth or water chakra, and some that are particularly useful when the user has fire or lightning-style chakra."

Hikaru frowned, "I think I understand…"

Tenten's mother continued, "Therefore, if I make the blades for the sansetsukon, and my husband makes the sais, we should be able to make them so that the metals are particularly reactive towards the Uchiha's and Hyūga's chakra natures."

Hikaru smiled, "That sounds excellent. Out of interest, I know what happens when fire, lightning and wind chakra are channelled through chakra blades, but what about water and earth?"

Tenten's mother shrugged, "We don't know. I'm a fire-type, my husband is a lightning-type and Tenten has my fire affinity. We know what wind-types can do because of Asuma Sarutobi; he bought his trench knives here." She addressed Hinata, "If it isn't too much trouble, would you please return some other time and tell us what happened when you channelled your chakra natures through the sais?"

Hinata nodded, "Of course."

Hikaru set the sais down on the desk before reaching out to grab the staff, which was still embedded into the floorboards. Sasuke was already holding it. "How do I make it go back to being one staff?"

The woman reached over and tugged it out of his hands, "Watch carefully." She held it up, one hand on each of the end sections, before she suddenly yanked them apart, pulling the middle-section upwards into the gap. With a loud snapping noise, the staff returned to its original state.

Sasuke nodded before setting the neat pile of kunai, shuriken and assorted other weapons on the counter, where it was quickly joined by Hinata's and Naruto's piles.

"By the way," said Hikaru as the three genin packed their supplies into bags, "I never got your name."

"It's Isis," said the woman behind the counter, smiling happily at him.

Hikaru smiled, "Until next time we need to restock then, Isis-san."

Sasuke frowned up at him, "You already have three women after you why are you going- ack!"

The reason he finished that sentence with "ack" was because Hikaru had just hooked his ankles out from under him.

Isis cast the tall blond a look as Sasuke got up, cursing under his breath, "What was that about three women, Hikaru-san?"

Hikaru smiled, "When I was being tested to see if I was worthy of being a jōnin-sensei, I sort of humiliated two of them by accident, so they wanted me to take them on a date to make up for it."

Isis seemed satisfied with that explanation, but when he reached out for the change from paying for the ninja tools, she grabbed his wrist and planted a kunai into the pitted surface of the counter between his middle and ring fingers, "I don't know who they are, but if you hurt any of them you get to see firsthand how many weapons I can ram into the most _interesting _of places, am I understood?"

Hikaru, at a loss for words in the face of the now-terrifying woman, nodded slightly. All of a sudden, she was all smiles again and waving them out of the door with a cry of "Come back to Takeshi Wares if you need anything else!"

Once outside, Hikaru rounded on Sasuke, "Never, _ever_ put me in that situation again."

Sasuke nodded dumbly, "I was only joking, I didn't think she'd take it that far!"

Hikaru shivered, "All the same, please refrain from making jokes like that in public. Her reaction was scary enough; I don't need to be annoying anyone else… Actually for that matter I need to find out what Yūgao-chan's favourite food is for our date tonight. I'll be back later." Without waiting for a response he vanished in a shunshin.

The three genin glanced at each other for a minute before Sasuke shrugged and headed off towards the house that Zabuza and Haku now inhabited; Hinata headed back to the Hyūga compound and Naruto ambled along to Ichiraku Ramen for a snack.

-WJGW-

Kurenai had been in a slightly wistful mood ever since her date with Hikaru. Therefore while she behaved normally during her team's training session, inside she was feeling very different.

Kiba was the first to pick up a foreign scent around the training ground, and Shino was second. Sakura, on the other hand, was totally oblivious.

"You feeling alright, Kurenai-chan?"

Kurenai jumped, whirling around to see Hikaru chewing on an apple, leaning against a tree. Smiling at her, he threw another apple over to her, "Catch."

She caught it, "Why did you come here Hikaru-san?"

Hikaru smiled, "Well, if you recall it's my make-up date with Yūgao-chan tonight. Regrettably, I do not know her favourite food, so I came here to ask your advice."

Kurenai thought for a minute and took a bite from her apple, watching as Hikaru threw his own apple core away into the trees before crouching down to the ground and allowing Akamaru to run over and leap into his arms, where he settled down to receive a pleasing back scratch. "I can't recall any specific meal Yūgao likes, but if you take her to the place you took me yesterday you might strike lucky."

Hikaru nodded before smiling, crouching and letting Akamaru jump out of his arms. "Thanks, Kurenai-chan. Catch you later, alright?"

He disappeared in a shunshin. Sakura snorted, "For being a Namikaze, he's such a baka."

A kunai embedded itself into the ground beside Sakura's foot, and she looked up to see her sensei staring at them with anger in her eyes, "Did I say you could stop training? Get back to work!"

Sakura immediately got back to work on her genjutsu as Kurenai proved exactly how motivated a jōnin kunoichi could get when defending the object of her (no matter how much she denied them) affections.

-WJGW-

Hikaru landed in front of the house he shared with Naruto and moved towards the door, idly thinking about what he would wear tonight.

He was almost there when he heard a voice, "Hey, Namikaze!"

He turned to see Anko standing beside the fence, "Yes?"

Idly, he noticed that she was blushing slightly as she stepped through the gate and walked up to him, "Thank you for removing the Cursed Seal. Nai-chan told me how you knew about it."

Hikaru nodded as a memory from his own time drifted to the surface of his mind.

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

"_Anko-chan?" said a younger Naruto Uzumaki, "Why did you follow me out of the village? As far as I can remember the only times we've really had contact were the Chūnin Exams when Orochimaru invaded and the mission to the Land of the Sea."_

_Anko curled herself into a ball and hugged her knees. They were on watch outside the camp that the Konoha ninja had set up after walking out of Konoha following Naruto's banishment by Danzō. "We're more alike than you realize, Naruto. You were hated by the villagers because you kept the Kyūbi from killing us all. I, on the other hand, bore my own curse."_

_Reaching up, she pulled aside the collar of her trench coat and her fishnet bodysuit to reveal a mark like three tomoe on her neck. "That's what Sasuke has!" said Naruto._

_She nodded, "This is the prototype of the Cursed Seal that your little friend has; the Cursed Seal of Heaven. Orochimaru was my sensei, a long time ago. I looked up to him more than anybody else in the world, and he just marked me with this and abandoned me."_

_Naruto nodded before saying, "You didn't answer my question."_

_She sighed, "After Orochimaru turned traitor, the villagers turned on me. As I had been his apprentice, they saw me as an extension of him. You aren't the only one who's feared for something they had no control over, Naruto."_

_Without another word she stood up and walked away to begin her patrol._

_Flashback End!_

Hikaru frowned slightly as the memory faded, only to be replaced with another one.

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

"_Anko-chan!" Naruto yelled at the motionless figure on the ground, "ANKO-CHAN!"_

"_It's too late now, Naruto-kun…" said a sibilant voice from the other side of Anko's body, "The poison in her system has already shut her heart down. She's dead."_

_Naruto sank to his knees, staring at the body of the one person in Konoha who really understood how he'd been treated through the years as he felt a part of his heart crumble to ashes and dust. Tears coursed down his cheeks before the rage took over, the fox's chakra blossoming from his skin and three tails lighting up behind him as he looked towards Kabuto and screamed, __**"I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"**_

_Launching himself at the silver-haired man who had slain one of his greatest allies, Naruto only saw the man's evil smile before he made a gesture and everything went black._

_Naruto woke up hours later under the dark sky, surrounded by his friends as he lay half-across Anko's body. It was a blur of people trying to comfort him, blankets and Sakura's hands checking for injuries, but all he could see were Anko's lifeless eyes looking at him._

_A second passed before he flung his head back, and a scream of pain, grief and vengeance echoed across the plains around the site._

_Flashback End!_

Hikaru forced down the tears which threatened to spill from his eyes as he remembered the pain of that episode, when Kabuto had cold-bloodedly slew the violet-haired woman who might really have been a closer friend to him than Sakura or Sasuke could ever have hoped to be. Unnoticed by either of them, a single tear rolled down his cheek and dripped off his chin.

He smiled a second later, "It was nothing, Anko-chan. I'm just happy you're alright now."

Anko moved a little closer, "I think I owe you another date, just for removing the Cursed Seal."

Hikaru gave her a wry grin, "We didn't really have one last time, did we? The only thing we really did was having a drinking contest."

Anko nodded. They exchanged some more idle conversation before Hikaru suddenly frowned, "Anko-chan, I don't mean to be rude but I have to get ready for Yūgao-chan tonight."

Anko's grin returned and she nodded, "Of course. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow then, Hikaru-kun."

Hikaru smiled as the violet-haired woman sauntered off, before turning to his door and entering the house.

-WJGW-

Hikaru met Yūgao outside her house. She was looking very nice in a deep red dress which complemented her purple hair. She smiled when she saw him, "Namikaze-san,"

Hikaru bowed his head to her, "Fair lady." He took her hand, "If I may be permitted to escort you?"

Yūgao nodded and took his arm, before blinking as he suddenly made a seal and the pair of them seemed to teleport to the top of the Hokage Monument. Her clothes were barely ruffled by the sudden motion.

"What…" she murmured, looking around, "…was that?"

Hikaru smiled; she could see his teeth glinting in the moonlight, "One of my cousin's signature jutsu. I don't like using it too much, but I feel this is a special occasion."

Yūgao blinked that Hikaru had just casually used an S-ranked space-time ninjutsu to bring her up to the top of the Hokage Monument, "But why…?"

Hikaru gestured towards the ground twenty feet in front of them, where she saw a hamper sitting on a blanket. "I thought instead of taking you to a restaurant, it might be a better idea to have a little moonlit picnic."

Yūgao smiled, "Alright, I give you points for style."

They settled themselves down on the blanket and Hikaru opened the hamper and began setting the food out.

Yūgao took the small bowl he handed her and took a bite with her chopsticks. It was delicious; an explosion of flavours that made her mouth water. She was going for another mouthful when her throat suddenly seized up completely.

Hikaru's head snapped up as Yūgao dropped her bowl and chopsticks and began clawing at her neck. "Yūgao-chan?"

Yūgao waved her arms frantically at him before grabbing her neck and managing to speak two words, "Can't… breathe…" Hikaru immediately realized that something was _very_ wrong. Dropping his own food, he rolled over and snatched her up in his arms before drawing a three-bladed kunai from his belt and hurling it as far as he could over the edge of the Monument.

-WJGW-

Doctor Isshin Yakushi was just leaving the hospital for the night when a three-bladed kunai hurtled down and embedded itself into the grass in front of him. A half-second later there was a burst of yellow light and a tall blond man appeared, carrying a purple-haired woman who appeared to be unable to breathe, "Doctor!"

Yakushi jumped back before entering professional doctor-mode, "What's the problem?"

The tall man shook his head before saying, "I don't know! We were eating on top of the Monument and she suddenly started choking! I don't think she _is _choking but she can't breathe!"

Yakushi darted forwards and checked the woman's pulse. It was very erratic, so he quickly shone a small light into her eyes. She was pale and her pupils were dilating and contracting irregularly. "Oh hell, she's going into anaphylactic shock!"

Yakushi jumped away and beckoned to the blond, who bent slightly to retrieve the three-pointed kunai before following him towards the hospital doors as he yelled, "SOMEBODY GET A STRETCHER, WE HAVE A LEVEL-1 EMERGENCY COMING IN!"

-WJGW-

Hikaru sat outside the ward a couple of hours later, feeling extremely edgy. Somebody muttering worriedly down the corridor caused him to look up. Anko and Kurenai were approaching, walking briskly down the corridor towards him. Kurenai was looking frightened, Anko managing to keep most of her fear off her face.

Hikaru stood up as the two women approached. "How is she?" Anko asked.

Hikaru swallowed, "They say that she must have a seafood allergy. The food I bought from the restaurant for the picnic on top of the Monument set it off and sent her into anaphylactic shock. The doctor I gave her to; he took her away and I haven't heard anything since. Kami, I hope she doesn't die; this is my fault for buying seafood!"

Kurenai shook her head vehemently, "I was the one who suggested you buy seafood; I'm to blame here."

Hikaru was about to snap back when the door behind them opened and the doctor emerged. Hikaru whirled around and all three said, in perfect chorus, "How is she?"

The doctor smiled, "She'll be fine. She's resting now. It's very lucky you got her here when you did, another five minutes without treatment and there would have been nothing we could do to save her."

Kurenai sobbed in relief, causing Hikaru to turn back to her and take her in his arms, patting her back as the dark-eyed jōnin wept into his shoulder. "Can we see her?" said Anko quietly.

The doctor stepped aside, "If you don't mind that she won't reply if you talk to her, you may."

The three jōnin moved into the room quietly, making a beeline for the bed.

Yūgao lay quietly in the bed, her eyes closed and an intravenous drip in her arm. A mask covered her nose and mouth.

Hikaru touched her hand before turning to the doctor, "Will she pull through?"

The doctor smiled, "We expect her to make a full recovery soon, but she won't be able to go back on active duty for a while yet. She's an ANBU, according to her file, so I know she's strong."

Hikaru gave a small smile, "Thank you, doctor…?"

"Yakushi. It's alright, just doing my job. If you need anything, just call; I'll be in the nurse's station."

He left the room.

Anko was the first to speak as she looked down on her friend, "So what actually happened?"

Hikaru swallowed, "I took her up to the Monument, having had clones previously set everything up, and we were just settling down for our meal when it started. I used Hiraishin to get her here as fast as I could, and ran into Doctor Yakushi at the door. He checked her, realized what the problem was and brought her inside. They put her on a bed and took her away. The nurses just told me to wait, so I did."

He gently stroked the back of Yūgao's hand with his thumb, "Damn. I wish I'd known about this. Do you think she did?"

Anko shook her head, "No. She never mentioned it to us, and since she's an ANBU I think she'd have noticed you were giving something she was allergic to."

Hikaru nodded, "I guess."

He checked the clock on the wall, "I should leave; I should've been home a couple of hours ago and Naruto's probably wondering where I am. I'll see you both tomorrow. Kurenai, would you like me to walk you home?"

Kurenai shook her head, "My team has a day off tomorrow and besides, I'd rather stay here with Yūgao."

Hikaru nodded, "I understand. Goodnight." He left the ward, bidding goodnight to Doctor Yakushi and idly noting that he still had to deal with Kabuto before the bastard could do anything this time around as he did so.

-WJGW-

Hikaru was very distracted during team training over the next couple of days, so much so that Sasuke eventually stopped and said, "What's the problem, sensei?"

Hikaru seemed to snap out of a daze and turned to look at Sasuke, "Hmm? You say something, Sasuke?"

An idle thought crossed his mind, _"I'm channelling Kakashi. Dammit! I have to focus; I shouldn't know Kakashi's catchphrases so well in this time!"_

Sasuke folded his arms, "You've been really out of it all morning. What's going on? You're never this unfocused usually."

Hikaru smiled at Sasuke before walking over and patting him on the head, "Never mind Sasuke. There was an accident last night and I'm worried about the victim is all."

Naruto stopped as well, "That's why you were so late back from your date last night!"

Hikaru sighed, knowing neither of his two male genin was about to let this go, "Yes… the girl I was on a date with had a severe allergic reaction to the food we were eating and I had to take her to the hospital. That's why I'm a little worried today, happy? Naruto, how are your fingers?"

Naruto held up his hand, which now sported two brand new fingers, "They're good. Will your friend be alright?"

Hikaru nodded, "The doctor said she'd be unconscious for a while, but she'll be fine. She's an ANBU, so she's tough, but she won't be able to return to active duty for a while yet."

He suddenly stopped and rummaged in his pockets, "I went back to Takeshi Wares to check on your weapons, and I got them." He tugged out a sealing scroll and unrolled it, quickly producing Sasuke's sansetsukon and Hinata's sais and tossing them to their respective owners.

Sasuke caught his and spun it experimentally in his hands before noticing a problem, "Sensei, how am I going to carry this? I mean, Naruto has a sheath for his ninjatō and Hinata can put her sais in her belt, but this thing's as long as most of my body."

Hikaru smiled, "I took care of that. Catch." He produced two other small objects from the scroll, seemed to check them for a second and then threw them at Sasuke before throwing another pair to Hinata, "I made these last night."

Sasuke inspected what Hikaru had thrown at him. It was a pair of gloves. "Thanks sensei, but what…?"

Hikaru chuckled, "Take a look at the palms."

Sasuke checked the palm of the right glove. In the middle of a tiny seal array was a miniscule picture that resembled his sansetsukon. "That," said Hikaru; "is a sealing array designed for your sansetsukon to be stored in when you aren't using it. Hinata's are designed for her sais."

Hinata chose this moment to inspect her own gloves, finding a picture of a sai on them.

"The way you seal your weapons into your gloves," said Hikaru, "is this; you channel some chakra _into_ the gloves, and it will seal the weapon in question into it."

Hinata raised a hand, "But won't that affect the way we channel our nature chakra into it?"

Hikaru smiled before patting her on the head, "Very observant, Hinata. No, it will not. The seals I built for these gloves are designed so that you have to _think_ about sealing your weapons away for them to be sealed away. Otherwise, you'll just be channelling chakra into the seals and they won't react. Likewise you have to _think_ about unsealing your weapons to get them out of the gloves. It's amazing what you can do with seals, isn't it?"

When there was no response, he ran a hand across the sealing scroll again and withdrew two scrolls, one of which he threw at Sasuke and the other he tossed to Hinata. "Those contain the first katas for your new weapons. Work through them quickly enough, and I'll take you out for dinner tonight; and then you can start on the next level tomorrow. As with Naruto's ninjatō and my katana, there are three levels to each weapon."

He created a clone and instructed it to watch them before smiling, "I will return in an hour. I need to go do something."

The three genin nodded and started working on their separate tasks while Hikaru himself vanished in a swirl of leaves.

-WJGW-

Kakashi was standing next to the monument to fallen ninja when Hikaru stepped up to stand next to him, "Hey, Kakashi,"

Kakashi didn't turn to look, "Hello, Hikaru,"

There was silence for a minute before Hikaru cut to the chase, "I need your help with something. On my team's latest C-rank mission Sasuke managed to activate his Sharingan. As you are now the only person in Konoha to have a Sharingan, I need you to help him improve it. If it helps your decision, he also has the same affinities as you."

Kakashi's single visible eye flicked around to look at the blond on his right, "And how do you know what my affinities are?"

Hikaru smiled, "I read your file."

Kakashi frowned at him before saying, "I don't want to," and walking away.

Hikaru looked after him before saying, "And you'd let Obito down, just like that?"

Kakashi slowly turned back to face him. Hikaru was looking down at the stone monument engraved with all the names of those fallen in the line of duty. "What did you just say?" He had evidently heard the first time, but Hikaru repeated himself anyway.

"I'm presenting you with an opportunity to do right by Obito-san by training his last living relative that remains loyal to the village, and you're turning it down because you don't want to? So much for all the "those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash" stuff I've been hearing about lately."

Kakashi stared dumbly at him for a minute before sighing, "When do you want me to work with him?"

Hikaru beamed at him, "Thank you for accepting. I won't need you to start working with him for a while yet. I'll tell you when he does need to enter specialized training with you; if that is ok."

Kakashi nodded, "As you wish. By the way I heard that Yūgao Uzuki was in hospital. Would you know anything about why?"

Hikaru nodded, "Anaphylactic shock from a seafood allergy that she didn't know she had. She'll be fine, but she's off active duty for a while. Catch you later, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded before Hikaru vanished in a swirl of leaves.

-WJGW-

Kurenai looked up blearily when she heard somebody call her name. She had evidently fallen asleep with her head on Yūgao's bed. Hikaru was bending over her looking worried, "Kurenai-chan, go home and sleep."

Kurenai shook her head, "No, I have to be here for Yūgao-chan when she wakes up."

Hikaru thought for a second before he said, "I'll be back in a minute."

Kurenai nodded listlessly and laid her head on the bed again.

-WJGW-

"Doctor Yakushi?"

Isshin Yakushi turned to see the tall blond man who had brought in the anaphylaxis patient a few days before, "Hello."

"Can we get a bed set up next to Yūgao-chan's bed? Her friend wants to sleep and she refuses to leave Yūgao's side for even a minute."

Yakushi frowned, "Yes, I'm sure I could do that. I'll get a nurse to wheel one in once I'm finished my round."

Hikaru nodded, "Thank you, Yakushi-san."

-WJGW-

The bed was brought in fifteen minutes after Hikaru returned, so he gently extracted Yūgao's hand from Kurenai's and lifted the sleeping genjutsu mistress onto the free bed, covering her with a blanket and leaving her to sleep.

Anko dropped in about fifteen minutes after that, smiling slightly when she saw what Hikaru had done for Kurenai and then taking up a post on Yūgao's other side.

Half an hour later, Yūgao had still shown no sign of awakening from her slumber, so Hikaru made his departure and headed back to Training Ground #7. When he arrived, he found that Sasuke and Hinata had both already finished their scrolls and were in the middle of a frenzied spar with Naruto. The clone of himself, meanwhile, had produced a large bowl of ramen from somewhere and was snacking. A lump rose in Hikaru's throat at the sight of the bowl.

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

"_Ayame?"_

_Naruto darted forwards as the ramen waitress staggered up to him before collapsing against him. He moved into a kneeling position, supporting her in his arms, "Ayame! Are you alright? Speak to me!"_

_Ayame raised one hand and gripped his arm, her eyes gazing up at his own, "Naruto…-kun… Konoha… destroyed…"_

_Naruto moved the same arm down to support her better, "Hold on, Ayame."_

_He looked around desperately, "SOMEONE FIND A MEDIC, NOW!_

_Turning back to look down at Ayame as a number of people ran up including Sakura and Hinata, Naruto said, "The Leaf's been destroyed?"_

_Ayame nodded weakly as Sakura dropped down next to Naruto and began checking her over before she suddenly started coughing up blood._

"_What's the matter with her?" said Naruto to Sakura as the pinkette continued to run a glowing green hand across Ayame's body._

_Sakura finally stopped her check and looked up, "I'm sorry, Naruto, but she has extreme internal injuries that I can't heal. There's nothing I can do."_

"_No…" whispered Naruto as he looked Ayame in the eyes._

_Ayame gave a weak smile as the light started to leave her eyes, before letting go of his forearm and raising her hand to stroke his cheek, "You were always like my little brother, Naruto-kun; like the annoying little brother I was never able to have…"_

_Naruto raised his own hand to cover hers and gave her a tearful smile, "Thank you, Ayame-nee-chan."_

_Ayame's smile widened for a brief second, and then her eyes fixed, staring into his face with no life left in them._

_Flashback End!_

Hikaru forcibly reminded himself that crying in front of his genin team wasn't a good idea, so instead he threw a kunai at the clone and dispersed it, ramen bowl and all.

The sound of the clone dispelling alerted the three genin to Hikaru's presence; all three stopped fighting and turned to face him.

"It seems you finished your scrolls very quickly," said Hikaru calmly, before taking out his sealing scroll and flinging each of his dōjutsu-using genin the next scroll for their respective weapons. Where do you three want to eat tonight?"

He held up a hand to quell Naruto's answer, "Don't say Ichiraku. Ramen is good _on occasion_, but not all the time."

Sasuke raised a hand, "My family used to like this restaurant in the middle of town, I think it's called Moritake's?"

Hikaru nodded, "I know the one. Now get to work you three, you've got stuff to do and only about a week left until the Chūnin Exams!"

-WJGW-

**One week later.**

"Well, good luck you three, and remember what I told you…?"

Naruto and Sasuke grinned before chorusing, "Make sure you come through alive and beat everybody or I might be tempted kick your asses, and if you don't get promoted this year I most definitely _will _kick your asses!"

Hikaru grinned before patting them both on the head, "Good boys. Now, I've got work to do with the Hokage so I'll see you later on, alright?"

All three nodded before Hikaru gave them a thumbs-up and disappeared in a shunshin.

Naruto turned towards the tall building in front of them and headed for the doors with Sasuke and Hinata behind him before stopping at the door and punching the air, "Alright! Let's do this thing!"

-WJGW-

They walked into the waiting room on the third floor five minutes later (having only stopped to defuse the genjutsu situation on the floor below for about twenty seconds) to find everybody there glaring at them.

Naruto's response to this was, as usual, direct and _very_ to the point. He pulled out his ninjatō and said, "Alright you bastards with the really pathetic excuse for killing intent, line up in an orderly queue and I'll kick your asses one at a time!" As if to emphasize his point, he released a little of his own killing intent, causing a number of the shinobi from other villages to look away.

"Must you be so troublesome, Naruto?" said a voice, causing the three members of Team 7 to turn around.

"Hey Shika, Chōji, Ino," said Naruto, sheathing his ninjatō again, "Surprised to see you here; thought you'd have claimed it was too troublesome."

Shikamaru shrugged, "Meh. I was actually…" but was cut off as Ino pounced on Sasuke, "Sasuke-ku…"

She was interrupted as Sasuke blocked her flying leap at him and flipped her right over his head so that she hit the floor with a loud thud. "Ow… why, Sasuke-kun?"

There was a snort from ten feet away, "Obviously he was protecting himself from you for _me_, piggy!"

Everybody looked around to see Sakura walking towards them with her team-mates behind her.

"I wouldn't hold your breath over that, Haruno," said Naruto, "Sasuke's pursuing a relationship with a rather fetching young lady by the name of…" but was cut off when Sasuke clipped him around the head.

"I am not, you liar!"

Naruto smirked, "De Nile isn't just the river in Kawa no Kuni (River Country), you know."

Sasuke's retort (which was undoubtedly going to be laden with a few choice curses) was interrupted as a silver-haired Leaf genin butted in, "Oi, would you keep it down? It's bad enough having all you rookies here without you making so much racket as well."

Naruto and Kiba (who had stepped forwards to greet Naruto by this point) turned as one and said in perfect unison, "And you are?"

The genin pushed up his glasses, "Kabuto Yakushi."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "And is this your second time taking the exam?"

Kabuto shook his head, "Seventh."

Kiba snorted, "So basically you suck massively."

Kabuto winced, "Be that as it may, it has given me the opportunity to gather a lot of information about the exams."

Naruto folded his arms, "Prove it."

Kabuto took out a bunch of cards and handed one to Naruto, who looked at it. "…it's blank. Are you retarded or just mentally deranged?" said Naruto a second later, giving it back.

A tic mark appeared on Kabuto's forehead as he channelled a little chakra into the card and held it out again, "Take another look."

Naruto looked down at the card. It showed a detailed map of the Elemental Nations, as well as a tally of the number of teams each village had sent. "Well, that's all very well," said Naruto, handing the card back with a disinterested look, "I've always wanted to know where Iwa and Kumo were in relation to Konoha, thank you _so_ much for clearing that up for me."

Kabuto's tic mark increased in size, "You're a really unpleasant brat; did you know that?"

Naruto shrugged, "So I've been told. My team still likes me though, and that's all that matters…"

Sasuke muttered something behind him and Naruto continued, "…Even if one of them wants to kill me in my sleep to end the constant teasing about his little girlfriend…"

"Haku is NOT my girlfriend!" snapped Sasuke.

"…And yet you two spend so much time outside of training sessions together? Do we need to have the denial talk again, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's retort was again cut off as the doors at the end of the room opened and a loud voice boomed, "ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOTS, LISTEN UP!"

Naruto boomed right back, "ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOT, SHUT UP SO WE CAN FINISH OUR CONVERSATION!"

There was dead silence for about a minute before the tall man who had spoken first laughed loudly, "I like your guts kid. Now, I want every one of you to listen up. I'm Ibiki Morino, proctor of the first exam! Follow me, and I'll explain the rules!"

Everybody followed him into the room, where they were given random numbers and told to sit down in order of their numbers. Once everybody was seated, Ibiki began speaking, "Now, in front of each of you is a test paper. You have one hour in which to answer all of the questions. You start with ten points. For every wrong answer, you lose a point. For every time you get caught cheating, you lose two points. Get caught cheating three times and your entire team fails. Finish the test with no points and your entire team fails. The tenth question will be given out at the end of the hour."

Naruto raised his hands to his head, knowing Hinata and Sasuke could both see them clearly as he flashed through a variation on sign language that Hikaru had helped them make for use when they needed to move silently yet still communicate, _"It seems they're putting more emphasis on cheating than actually getting the questions right."_

He turned his head slightly to see Sasuke's response, _"Yeah. I wonder if that means we're supposed to cheat. I can always get the answers off the guy next to me using my Sharingan. I _do _have an idea though; if Hinata can get all the answers using her Byakugan and then signal you, since you don't have any way of copying discreetly, you can Kawarimi her paper with yours then she can write the answers again. That way we get all the answers and nobody gets caught doing it!"_

Naruto signalled, _"What do you think, Hinata-chan?"_

There was a few seconds' pause before Hinata responded, _"It's a good plan. Let's do it."_

All three turned back to face the front just as Ibiki said, "The test will now begin. Start."

**(A/N: And so ends another chapter of When Jutsu Go Wrong. It's hard to believe this chapter took me four weeks to write. Next to update will probably be Rinnegan Maelstrom, as that story has 10,440 words to its next chapter whereas Kunai only has 4,321. Now I will proceed to go and sleep, for I am tired and must rest. Hopefully Maelstrom will update within the next week or so, so until then folks, this is Leonineus saying GOODNIGHT!)**


	4. Dropping the Hammer

When Jutsu Go Wrong

Chapter Four: Dropping the Hammer

While Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke were beginning the first phase, Hikaru was running along rooftops to the Hokage's office. Sarutobi didn't even turn around as the Namikaze entered through the open window before standing at attention in front of the desk, "Hikaru Namikaze reporting for duty, Hokage-sama!"

Sarutobi stood up and smiled at the blonde, "Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Hikaru-san. What do you have to report?"

Hikaru smiled, "It's my job, Hokage-sama. As for what I have to report, we no longer need worry about the Ichibi jinchūriki. I fixed up his seal and he's no longer a threat. As for the spy Kabuto Yakushi, I recommend having an ANBU squad on hand to ensure that he does not escape. If I remember correctly, he will drop out before the preliminary rounds and leave the tower. I would advise having an ANBU squad on hand to apprehend him immediately on his departure."

Sarutobi shook his head, "I can't do that, I'm afraid. All my ANBU will be busy patrolling the village at that point."

Hikaru frowned, "Then I can bring him down. I can knock him out, take him to the T&I Division and return to the arena in a matter of minutes."

Sarutobi frowned, thinking it over for a minute before he finally said, "Very well. If you can pull it off, I'll authorize it."

Hikaru beamed, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. You won't regret this. Now, if you don't mind I need to go see a couple of friends of mine." He vanished in a swirl of leaves.

-WJGW-

"I'll get it!" called Haku, running towards the front door of the apartment she shared with Zabuza.

Opening the door, she blinked, "Namikaze-sama?"

Hikaru grinned at the girl, "Hello Haku-chan. How are you?"

Haku leaned against the door, "I'm alright. Zabuza-sama has been busy."

Hikaru gave the girl an eye-smile, "Mind if I come in?"

Haku nodded and stood back, allowing the blonde to cross the threshold and enter the living room, "Hello, Zabuza! How have you been lately?"

Zabuza scratched his jaw, "I'm fine, been teaching a kenjutsu class lately so I'm a little tired. Haku's training as a medical-nin."

Hikaru grinned as the black-haired ice-user in question handed him a cup of tea, "That's great, Haku!"

Haku smiled, "Thank you, Namikaze-sama."

Hikaru turned back to Zabuza, "Alright, I'd better get to business. I came here today because in six days I'm going to need to apprehend somebody in the Forest of Death. As such, I'm going to need assistance since I'm not sure I can handle him alone."

Zabuza snorted, "You handled _me_ alone just fine."

Hikaru shook his head, "Technically, I only beat you when I pulled out my trump card; the rest of the time I was too busy trying to take you alive. This guy I have to apprehend and take to the T&I Division, and I'm fairly sure he's just hiding his true skill. As such, I'd prefer to go with the overkill approach to bring him to book."

Zabuza frowned; not that Hikaru could tell because of his lack of eyebrows, "Alright then. What do you need me to do?"

Hikaru smiled, "Not just you, Haku too. I need you to distract him with your Kirigakure no Jutsu before… Haku, can you sense anything within your mirrors even if you can't actually _see_ the person?"

Haku thought for a second before she said, "Yes. I can."

Hikaru's smile widened, "Brilliant! If you, Zabuza, distract him with your Kirigakure and then Haku uses her mirror jutsu to nail his pressure points with senbon, he'll go down pretty easily and the problem will be solved!"

Haku frowned, "I will not need to kill him, will I?"

Hikaru shook his head, "No, we have to take him alive. You see, our intelligence indicates that there are certain parties outside Konoha who are planning an invasion, and what little intelligence we've gained on their agents in this village points to this person in particular."

He tugged out a sealing scroll and unsealed a file he had copied from the archives, "This is the guy."

Zabuza looked at the glasses-wearing silver-haired nin in the picture, "He doesn't look like much."

Hikaru frowned, "Which is why he worries me. If you didn't already know firsthand that he was suspected of being a spy, would you suspect him?"

Zabuza held up the file, "No. This guy doesn't look like a spy."

Hikaru nodded, "There you go then. He's the perfect deep-cover spy."

Zabuza closed the file and grinned broadly at Hikaru from under his bandages, "Alright then, shall we plan?"

Hikaru smirked, "Yes, we shall."

-WJGW-

Naruto was flashing through hand signs under the desk, Hinata having just signalled that she had got all the answers memorized. Nearer the back, Sasuke was lounging in his chair and evidently having a brief nap after writing the answers down.

Around them, the genin teams were slowly and steadily being eliminated. All but the Oto team, a Kusa team, the Suna team, all the Rookie Nine, Team Gai and team with Kabuto Yakushi were all that was left by this point along with a team from Ame and about eight others.

The latest team to leave had had to be forced to leave by a band of proctors.

Glancing discreetly around at the proctors, he caught sight of Izumo and Kotetsu, the pair who always guarded the gates and had masqueraded as the genin downstairs, grinning and giving him a thumbs-up. He smirked at them and winked before hitting the final seal and substituting his paper with Hinata's, who immediately began writing again.

His eyes panned across the room again and he caught Ibiki's gaze.

Ibiki's eyes were emotionless, but as he realized Naruto was looking at him he smirked. Naruto knew immediately that his use of chakra had been caught by the scarred tokubetsu jōnin and braced himself to get his entire team cast out of the Chūnin Exams… but then Ibiki's smirk widened and he turned away to speak to one of the proctors. Naruto's eyebrows rose before he relaxed with a deep breath.

"Alright then," said Ibiki after another ten minutes, "Now you will be given the tenth question. Unlike the other questions, you can choose whether you want to take it or not."

The Suna kunoichi frowned, "And why wouldn't we take it?"

"Because," said Ibiki with a smile that could've driven off a bear with terror, "If you take the question and get it wrong, you can never take the Chūnin Exams ever again."

Kiba leapt up, "What? You can't do that!"

"YEAH!" yelled an Iwa genin, "Some of us are taking the exam for the second or third time!"

Iniki laughed mirthlessly, "Hard luck, brat. You just had the misfortune to have _me_, Ibiki Morino, as your proctor! In this room, _I _am Kami!"

-WJGW-

"**I feel I should really resent him saying that…"** murmured Kami from where she watched the exam take place on a screen on the wall, her head resting on her arms, **"But honestly? I just don't care."**

Yami, lounging in her own chair and smirking, laughed, **"Ahh, I remember the days when you'd hit anybody who said something like that with a lightning bolt!"**

Kami held up one hand and formed a ball of lightning in it, **"I could happily revert to those days if you'd like me to, Yami-chan!"**

Yami didn't reply, she simply smiled and stood up before stretching, **"I'll see you later, Kami-chan. I'm going to go annoy Shinigami-kun."**

"**Please no…"** whispered a quiet voice from somewhere nearby.

Kami sat up, **"Shinigami-kun, if you spit up the Yondaime Hokage so I can have a chat with him for a while I promise I'll distract Yami-chan, alright?"**

There was no reply, except for a loud hacking noise and then a man's voice, "What the- where the hell am I?"

Kami whistled, and soon a tall blond man with cerulean eyes appeared in front of her, bowing, "Kami-sama."

Kami smiled, sitting up and leaning back in her chair, **"Minato Namikaze, would you please tell me about your cousin Hikaru?"**

Yami sniggered in the corner, knowing that Kami was pulling the mortal's leg as Minato frowned, "I don't _have_ a cousin named Hikaru, Kami-sama."

Kami smiled and beckoned to the boy, **"Really? Because he's actually right over there."**

Minato walked over to the screen and looked at it. He frowned a second later, "He definitely _looks_ like me… but I swear I've _never_ seen this man before."

Kami grinned pleasantly, "**Recognize **_**this**_** one, then?"**

She touched a button on the side of the screen, which switched it over to a picture of a young man sitting at a desk looking bored. Minato's eyes widened, "Is this…?"

Kami smiled again, **"Indeed, Minato. This is your son Naruto."**

Minato stepped up closer to the screen and touched his fingers to his son's face, "Naruto… he looks so much like me… But who is the other man? He is an imposter if he is passing himself off as my cousin!"

Kami smiled, **"Minato, this boy…" **she pointed to the picture of Naruto, freezing the image, **"…and this man…" **she tapped another button, bringing up an image of the 'cousin', **"…are one and the same. This is your son as he will look in ten years' time."**

-WJGW-

Hikaru was just suppressing the urge to sneeze repeatedly when Kurenai appeared next to him in a shunshin. "Kurenai-chan?"

Kurenai looked very happy, "Yūgao's woken up! She wants to see you!"

Hikaru's response was to seize her arm and vanish in a shunshin, leaving only a swirl of leaves in their wake.

-WJGW-

Anko was just chatting to her friend when the door flew back and Hikaru ran in with Kurenai behind him.

Yūgao smiled happily at Hikaru as he ran up to the bed and smiled at her, "Hikaru-kun, how are you?"

Hikaru shook his head, "Screw that, how are _you_? Ever since the night of your accident I've been worried sick!"

Yūgao smiled, "It's alright, I promise. Doctor Yakushi tells me that I should be fine in another week."

Hikaru smiled happily, "That's great. Actually, I have a job for you and Anko when you get out of hospital. Do you work in the T&I Division at all?"

Yūgao nodded, "Yes… I specialize in enemy kunoichi."

Hikaru chuckled, "If I gave you the opportunity to work on two kunoichi and a shinobi that served Orochimaru… how would you like that?"

Anko blinked, "Orochimaru?"

Hikaru smirked, "Yep. Interested?"

Anko snorted, "Does a bear shit in the Forest of Death?"

Hikaru wrinkled his nose, "I didn't know you were into that, Anko-chan!"

Anko went red as Yūgao and Kurenai giggled. Her stammered denials were all she could say for five minutes before Hikaru finally walked across and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, "I was joking, Anko-chan. I've assembled a small team to apprehend the first of Orochimaru's soldiers; we're going to take him after the second exam reaches its conclusion."

Anko folded her arms, "What of the two kunoichi?"

Hikaru grinned, "I know exactly where they are. The first girl is on the Oto team, her name is Kin Tsuchi and you should be able to apprehend her before the third exam. The second girl, I know will appear after the third phase. I have one condition about giving this information, however."

Anko's eyebrows rose, "What?"

Hikaru looked up at her, "Before I joined Konoha, I did a lot of travelling. I found that Orochimaru is actually the leader of Otogakure no Sato, and he has four elite soldiers called the Sound Four that serve as his bodyguards. Each of them is marked with a seal like that one you used to have. If I can break the girl's seal, it might damage her resolve enough that information can be gotten from her with little difficulty."

Anko nodded before scratching her chin, evidently thinking, "Ibiki wanted me to drop a message. Depending on whether your genin become chūnin or not, he wants to offer you a possible position in the T&I Division. You'll be working with me if you accept."

Hikaru thought about it, "As you say, it depends on whether my genin become chūnin or not, so I'll think about it. I _would_ like to handle the interrogations of the two Oto kunoichi myself, if that's possible."

Anko stayed silent for a minute before saying, "I don't see why not. I want the shinobi though. I'm going to make him _squeal_."

Hikaru grinned, "Of course. Consider it a gift on my part!"

"Where's mine then?" said Yūgao from the bed, pouting playfully.

Hikaru took her hand, "I was going to get you a basket of fruit, but I was afraid you might be allergic to that as well." The teasing note in his voice left her blushing and the other two women sniggering.

-WJGW-

"Wow, he's smooth isn't he?" commented Minato, "Where'd he learn to talk to women like that?"

Kami shrugged, **"I assume he picked it up from your pervert sensei. Either way he's really good at it. Really, REALLY good at it. Anyway, I think you need a little update on this future Naruto's skills; he completed your Rasengan by combining it with his wind nature; the resultant jutsu is called the Fūton: Rasenshuriken because of the shape it takes."**

Minato looked startled, "What was the secret?"

Kami laughed, **"You missed it. You sussed out the trick to beating paperwork, which I have to thank you for, but you didn't think about using them for jutsu, did you?"**

Minato didn't respond, so Kami continued, **"This older Naruto never managed to get the necessary chakra control to do the Rasengan one-handed; he always needed a clone to make it back in his own youth. The Rasenshuriken apparently took two extra clones to make; while Naruto channelled the chakra, one clone shaped it and the other added the wind chakra. When you think about it, your son is actually more of a genius than you!"**

Minato winced at having it made clear he'd been outdone by his son, but then another thought struck him, "You've only talked about his Rasengan so far. What about his other jutsu?"

Kami smiled, **"His only affinity is wind, though for some reason his younger self in this time has wind, lightning AND fire. He's mastered Sage Mode to a higher level than your sensei ever did, and he just finished making his own seal for the Hiraishin. He's pretty good at it as well; used it very skilfully on the occasions he's been forced to use it. He got his hands on the chakra blades you commissioned some time before your death, gave the ninjatō to the younger Naruto and got him lessons on using it, and kept the katana for himself. He's also very accomplished with it; took on one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and managed to take him alive. He's great with his genin, they're all highly accomplished by this point because he pushes them so hard to excel while encouraging them to do better."**

Minato smiled, "Wow, he's good."

Kami nodded, **"Indeed. I think he and his team are more like the original Team 7 than you think." **At Minato's puzzled look she tapped the side of the screen, bringing up eight pictures, **"On the first row; Minato Namikaze, Mikoto Uchiha nee Kuroken and Hiashi Hyūga, with their sensei Jiraiya of the Sannin. On the second row; Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyūga, with their sensei Hikaru Namikaze. Do you see the pattern?"**

Minato frowned, "Yes. Yes, I do. A Namikaze; an Uchiha, or at least she was after she married; and a Hyūga."

Kami grinned, **"There you go then. If anything, this team under your "cousin" works together much more fluidly."**

Minato laughed, "Yeah, that's definitely true. Mikoto was the only sensible one on our team, I was a bit of an idiot and Hiashi was an ice cube most of the time."

Kami nodded, **"You see, Naruto and Sasuke are best friends, and Naruto and Hinata are betrothed."**

Minato blinked, "If you don't mind Kami-sama, can you run that by me a second time? I could've sworn you said "betrothed" in that last sentence."

Kami chuckled, **"I did. You see, Hinata followed your "cousin" around a lot back in his own time, since she really liked him. However your "cousin" was fairly dumb and never realized her feelings for him. She got badly hurt during a fight with a shinobi wielding the Rinnegan and your "cousin" almost used the entirety of the Nine-Tails' power to destroy him. You appeared to him in his mindscape and fixed the seal, so he knows who you really are." **Her face turned a little sad, **"Then, only a short time before he came back in time, she was stabbed in the chest by the Sasuke Uchiha in that time, who was an evil man by that point. She told your "cousin" about her feelings for him and then died in his arms."**

Minato frowned, "That's sad."

Kami nodded, **"Indeed. So as soon as he returned through time, your "cousin" got your predecessor on his side and took over the Namikaze clan, informally adopting your son in the process. Later on, the older Naruto decided it would be a better plan if he got the younger Naruto together with Hinata so that the younger Naruto would never have to experience that pain for himself. The older Naruto experienced that pain time and time again as his friends were killed one by one back in his own time, but now he intends to ensure that it doesn't happen again."**

Minato was silent for a long moment before he finally said, "Alright. I understand his reasoning."

Kami smiled, leaning forward to pat the man on the head, **"And therefore you prove you are wise. I see now why you were made the Yondaime Hokage."**

Minato smiled at the praise from the goddess before focusing on the screen again, which had gone back to focusing on Naruto.

-WJGW-

"Run that by me a second time please, Doctor Yakushi. You found _what_ in Yūgao-chan's blood samples?"

Yakushi swallowed, "I found traces of a poison that imitates the effects of anaphylactic shock."

Yūgao frowned, "I knew I didn't have a seafood allergy! In the ANBU, I have to have a medical check-up every three months, and I had mine two weeks ago! They didn't find anything like a seafood allergy then! But who'd be trying to kill me?"

Hikaru swallowed, "I don't know, Yūgao-chan."

His mind, however, was working ten metres a second, _"I get the feeling that Yūgao-chan wasn't the intended target. Now I just have to think on who wants to kill me? I don't think Iwa knows about me yet… besides they wouldn't try and assassinate me, they'd just declare war… unless they thought I'd come and whip their asses like Minato did. I'm fairly sure Orochimaru has no idea that I fixed his weapon against Konoha and Kabuto's in the exams by now. Even if he is the poisoner I can't do anything against him yet. Baki? I know he's loyal to the Kazekage but I'm fairly sure he wouldn't be trying to poison me, it's not his style and if a prominent Konoha-nin turned up dead his team would be the first under suspicion since Suna's so famous for its poisons. That leaves… who?"_

He walked over to the window, deep in thought, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a white-masked nin squatting on the wall outside. He might've thought it was an ANBU, except that the mask was completely blank except for a single kanji character at the top: Ne. When the ninja realized he'd been spotted, he vanished in a shunshin. A _very_ familiar shunshin, one with ink.

Hikaru fought down the urge to swear. Danzō had been having Sai follow him, though since when he had no idea. Even as Hikaru watched, he saw Sai reappear on the roof opposite. The boy looked up towards him before turning and disappearing again.

Hikaru frowned, turning to the three women who were watching him concernedly from the bed, "I have to see the Hokage. I'll see the three of you later."

Before any of them could say any more, Hikaru vanished in a shunshin.

Half a second later, he reappeared, took the clipboard with the medical results from Doctor Yakushi with a promise to return them soon, and disappeared again.

-WJGW-

Hiruzen Sarutobi was doing some paperwork when Hikaru Namikaze burst into the room, "Jiji!"

Sarutobi looked up in shock; something must've really upset Hikaru if he was calling him by his old name, "Yes, Hikaru?"

Hikaru threw down the clipboard on the desk, "I take it you heard about Yūgao Uzuki's allergic attack during our date a week ago?"

Sarutobi nodded, the paperwork had been forwarded to him by Doctor Yakushi forbidding Yūgao from returning to active duty until he declared her fit for duty again, "Yes, what has upset you?"

Hikaru scowled, jabbing a finger at the clipboard, "Read it!"

Sarutobi picked up the clipboard and scanned its contents. A minute later he looked back up in surprise, "Poison?"

"Yes!" hissed Hikaru with uncharacteristic venom in his voice, "Somebody spiked the food I bought for my date with Yūgao-chan!"

Sarutobi put down the clipboard, "Do you have any suspects? Anybody in Konoha who doesn't like you?"

Hikaru thought, "Iwa doesn't yet know I exist, as far as I know. Orochimaru and Kabuto don't yet know that I rendered their little invasion plans FUBAR in one move. Baki, that's Gaara's team's sensei, knows but I don't think poison's his style. The only person I can think of other than that is Danzō."

Sarutobi frowned, "I know you dislike him for what he did to you last time, but…"

"I've got proof."

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose, "Oh? Do tell."

Hikaru frowned, "You told me that Danzō went to the council after my cousin's death and asked that my little second cousin be placed into his ROOT program and made into the ultimate weapon for Konoha. You blocked that move. I suspect he still hasn't given up hope, plus there is also the matter of the Namikaze estate. If I were to disappear leaving a will that says I give everything including guardianship of Naruto to Danzō, he'd be able to put Naruto in his ROOT program and get his hands on everything Minato built and made, including the Rasengan and Hiraishin."

Sarutobi interlinked his fingers and sat back in his chair, "While this is all good supposition, Hikaru…"

"I have something else. You know that back in my own time, after Sasuke went missing-nin, he was replaced by a ROOT operative named Sai, who specialized in making ink constructs. I remember his unique ink shunshin."

Answering Sarutobi's question before he could ask it, he explained, "While I was at the hospital earlier, I walked over to the window and looked out of it while thinking about who might've poisoned Yūgao-chan. Sitting on the wall directly below the window was a shinobi I at first mistook for an ANBU. I realized he wasn't ANBU when I saw his mask. It was pure white except for one thing; the kanji character "Ne" on the forehead above the eye-holes."

Sarutobi stood up and turned to face the concealed ANBU in the corner. Tenzō appeared, "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi held out the clipboard, "Return this to Doctor Yakushi at the hospital. Once you've done that, return here."

Tenzō nodded, took the clipboard and disappeared. Sarutobi leaned forwards as Hikaru took a seat, "Let's start planning how we'll deal with Danzō then…"

-WJGW-

"I call your bluff!"

Ibiki's eyebrow rose as the blond who had backchatted him before the exams stood up and pointed at him, "What was that, kid?"

Naruto folded his arms, "I said I call your bluff. I somehow doubt you have the authority to enforce that in the other Elemental Nations."

Ibiki snorted, "Willing to risk your future on that?"

Naruto reached over his shoulder, yanked his ninjatō from its sheath and embedded it an inch deep in the desk, "I'm a shinobi! I risk my future, my career, my _life_ every time I go on a mission; every shinobi does! We all know we might not come back from one mission or other. All we can do is train until we drop to make sure that doesn't happen; to make sure we can protect what's most precious to us!"

He dug his ninjatō a little deeper into the wooden desk to illustrate his point, "My friends, my family, my village and my team. All of this is precious to me, and I'd give my life to defend it. That's my nindō, and I'll live by it until the day I drop! So you can take your never-become-chūnin story and shove it, because I'll never back down!"

Dead silence fell in the room for a long minute while Naruto and Ibiki stared into each other's eyes, before Ibiki looked around the room, "Anyone else leaving? This is your last chance!"

Nobody moved, and Ibiki frowned, "Then I'm pleased to say that all of you… pass!"

There was another pause before Kiba Inuzuka yelled, "WHAT? What about the tenth question?"

"There was no tenth question. It was a do-or-die; I had to know if you had the guts to put absolutely everything on the line. Unfortunately mister motivational speaker there," he pointed at Naruto as the blond smirked, yanked his ninjatō from the desk and returned it to its sheath, "sort of spoiled the whole thing but hey, you can't have everything. There is a lesson you could all learn from him, you know."

Naruto blinked as Ibiki continued, "There's more to being a shinobi than just getting strong enough to kill your opponents. To some of you, this might sound like a rather flowery attitude to take, and to the Konoha-nin in this room I will personally hunt you down if you spread word that I've gone soft because I most certainly haven't, but it's true; having something precious that you fight for can allow a nin to achieve heights they never dreamed they could."

A female Kusa-nin at the back of the room snorted derisively, but nobody paid her any mind.

Temari raised a hand, "If the whole test hinged on our decision concerning the tenth question, what was the point of the other nine questions?"

Ibiki's mouth twisted into something that _might _have resembled a grin on a less intimidating individual, but on Ibiki it just looked creepy, "As chūnin, you will occasionally need to gather information on the enemy without being detected. The point of the other nine questions was to weed out those who could not gather information without being detected. The significance of that was this; if you are caught gathering information on your enemies, they may either intercept you and kill you or worse, feed you false information which can lead your entire team into a trap."

Reaching up, he removed his bandana, revealing a horrific pattern of screw marks and scars on his scalp. "This," he said to all the shocked genin in the room, "is what happens when you get caught. This is what happens when the information you gather is faulty. This is the reason why you _never _allow yourself to get caught; as shinobi it's your job. I hope I've made my point."

There was dead silence in the room and Ibiki checked the clock, "Hmm, Anko's late. I thought she'd be here by now…"

-WJGW-

Hikaru walked out of the Hokage's office feeling satisfied. Sarutobi had promised to get somebody on finding out where the poison came from and what it was.

Checking the time, he jumped and headed for the hospital, knowing that Anko should turn up to collect the chūnin-hopefuls from Ibiki now and realizing she probably hadn't left the hospital yet.

Smirking to himself, he disappeared in a shunshin.

-WJGW-

Anko was just saying goodbye to Yūgao when Hikaru suddenly appeared behind her, "Need a ride over to pick up the genin?" he asked.

Anko blinked, "How did you know?"

Hikaru smirked, "I guessed. Let's go."

Anko took his arm and Hikaru looked over towards Yūgao, "Don't worry, Yūgao-chan. I promise I'll find out whoever did that to you and make him pay."

Yūgao smiled, "Hikaru-kun, it's alright. I don't mind…"

Hikaru smiled, "It'll be ok, Yūgao-chan. Come on then Anko-chan." He caught the violet-haired woman by the shoulder and disappeared.

Yūgao turned to look at Kurenai with a worried expression, "Nai-chan, do you think he's hunting for revenge on my behalf?"

Kurenai looked towards the spot where Hikaru had been standing when he disappeared, "He told me during our date that he's lost too many people he cared about in life to be willing to tolerate any more. I fully believe he will find out who tried to poison you and bring them to book."

Yūgao looked down at her clasped hands in her lap for a second, remembering what Hikaru had told her about his past in his own time. She would have to ask Hikaru if he would allow her to tell Kurenai and Anko about his true origins after the Chūnin Exams were concluded.

Kurenai could tell something was troubling her friend, but was tactful enough not to say anything.

-WJGW-

Ibiki had finally given up and led the chūnin-hopefuls over to the Forest of Death and was just about to start explaining the next exam when there was a sudden swirl of leaves and Anko appeared out of thin air, accompanied by a tall man that a fair number of the people in the group recognized at once.

Three Iwa-nin jaws simultaneously hit the grass as they beheld the man in front of them; the spitting image of the Yondaime Hokage returned from the grave.

"Namikaze-sama," said Ibiki patiently, causing the tall blond to turn to face him and grin, "What are you doing here?"

Hikaru smirked, "Oh, just dropping off Anko-chan since she was running late leaving the hospital. I'll be leaving right away I just wanted to say…" but was interrupted.

One of the Iwa-nins straightened up and jabbed a finger at him, "You! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

Hikaru turned to face the Iwa-nin, "Am I? I'm fairly certain I'm not dead, if that's what you're worried about. Anko-chan," he addressed the violet-haired woman at his side, "Do you think I'm alive?"

Anko pressed herself against his side, grinning as she copped a sneaky feel of his abdominal muscles, "Oh, very much!"

"There you go then," said Hikaru, turning back to the Iwa-nin, "Care to explain your reasoning?"

The Iwa-nin's teammates stepped up to their companion's side, one of them pulling a kunai and levelling it at Hikaru, "We heard back in Iwa that you died killing the Kyūbi, so how the hell are you still here?"

Hikaru pretended to think for a second before he smiled, "Ohhh, _now_ I see the confusion! Sorry to disappoint you little guy, but you've got the wrong guy. My _cousin _was the one who died sealing the Kyūbi; _he_ was the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash) and the Yondaime Hokage! I'm just his cousin Hikaru Namikaze!"

The third Iwa-nin, who had been silent up to this point, smirked, "All the same, once the Tsuchikage discovers that the filthy Yondaime Hokage still has living relatives, he'll declare war on this stupid little village and raze it to the ground!"

There was dead silence among the chūnin-hopefuls. Hikaru's smile thinned slightly and he stepped away from Anko, discreetly palming a Hiraishin kunai. A second later he brought his arm up and threw it at the genin, cutting his cheek open before he disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared behind the Iwa-nin, catching the kunai reverse-hand before laying it against the boy's neck, causing him to freeze.

"Is that what you think? Tough guys like you spill their blood all over this forest. It's called the Forest of Death for a reason, _buddy_." Leaning a little closer, he whispered a few words into the boy's ear and caused him to shiver slightly, before throwing the kunai back over to Anko and vanishing again.

Anko turned to look at Hikaru as he wiped the kunai off on the grass and returned it to his pocket, _"That's my line… how did he know?"_

The two other Iwa-nin turned to their friend. He was pale and shaking. "What did he say to you?" asked one.

The boy shook his head frantically, eyes still fixed on the Namikaze at the front in fear.

"Anyway," said Hikaru to Anko, leaning down to give the woman a gentle kiss on the cheek, "I should be going so Anko-chan here can start telling you about the second phase. Good luck everybody!"

He vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Anko swallowed before beginning her explanation of the second phase. The Iwa-nin Hikaru had moved behind stayed in the same position, shivering as Hikaru's last words whirled around inside his head…

"_Feel free to tell your Tsuchikage about me, but give him a message; if he brings his troops to the walls of Konoha, history will repeat itself. Any Iwa-nin who brings hostile intentions to the borders of Hi no Kuni will die. No exceptions."_

-WJGW-

Naruto looked around and cracked his knuckles.

They were at least half a mile inside the forest by this point. After collecting their Heaven scroll from the tent Anko had indicated, they had walked around to their gate and waited for the signal to enter.

When it came, they immediately moved straight into the forest, stopping occasionally to allow Hinata to use her Byakugan and using hand signals to communicate silently when they separated to check the surrounding area.

It was Sasuke who spotted the first sign of another team. He dropped onto the ground and pointed to a footprint between two tree roots. A little further on; they found a trap, evidently set for anyone pursuing the team. Naruto skilfully disarmed the trap using the knowledge he'd gained from years of pranks and they moved on.

The first sign of trouble came when they were attacked by an Ame team who tried to incapacitate Hinata and replace her with one of their own while she was taking a quick toilet break. Naruto and Sasuke heard her scream and ran into the bushes she had gone into, finding her standing over the bodies of the three Ame-nin and looking utterly furious.

Sasuke was given the task of interrogating one of them and taking their scroll while Naruto made an effort to calm Hinata down. Finally he gave up and simply kissed her, following one of Hikaru's "words of wisdom".

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

"_Women are crazy!" muttered Naruto to himself as he and Hikaru had dinner one evening._

_Hikaru grinned and set down his chopsticks, "That they are, Naruto. Here's a little piece of advice about women. If you ever get into a situation where a woman you're really close to, like as a girlfriend or something, is very distressed or angry about something, just kiss her."_

_Flashback End!_

Naruto sighed, _"He didn't specify how I should kiss her, did he? Oh well, we _are_ betrothed. In for a ryō, in for a hundred." _He leaned forwards and kissed Hinata on the lips.

Hinata's eyes widened briefly before she responded to the kiss.

Sasuke chose that moment to walk into the clearing from interrogating the Ame-nin and taking their scroll (another Heaven scroll, he thought in irritation). His dark eyes widened as he saw what his teammates were doing, before he settled in against a tree to wait. When neither made a move for the next two minutes, he finally gave up, "OI! We're in the middle of an exam here!"

The pair sprang apart like scalded cats and blushed. Naruto coughed and sought to cover up his embarrassment by saying, "What scroll did they have?"

Sasuke threw it at him, "Heaven. You're carrying this one, lover-boy."

Naruto scowled at the nickname, "I note you aren't saying anything to Hinata-chan…"

Sasuke frowned, "Well of course not. It isn't her fault her betrothed is a pervert."

"I'm not a pervert! What about you and Haku?" Naruto yelled back.

Sasuke got up nose-to-nose with Naruto, "Sorry? I didn't quite catch that, blondie!"

Hinata watched this for a second before a tic mark appeared on her head, "You two, get moving, _now_!"

Naruto and Sasuke growled at each other before turning away as one. Hinata gave both a sweet smile, "I can always 'encourage' you both to get along for the rest of the exam, if you like…?"

Both boys gulped, "No thanks, Hinata. We can get along fine…"

-WJGW-

Naruto stopped, "Can either of you hear that?"

Sasuke turned to look at him, "Hear what?"

Naruto listened carefully, "It sounds like… hissing…"

Sasuke was about to respond when a massive snake appeared from between two trees and lunged at them.

Naruto was the first to react, flashing through seals he raised both hands towards the snake, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The overcharged ninjutsu flung the snake backwards and away from where Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata were perched on a tree branch. As it came to a stop and tried to recover, Sasuke flashed through his own seals, "Katon: Moeru Honryū!" (Fire Release: Burning Torrent)

He opened his mouth wide and blew hard, sending a wave of fire roiling through the air until it struck the snake and caused it to disappear in a cloud of thick smoke similar to that formed when Naruto's Kage Bunshin dispelled.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, "It's gone… but there's a single kunoichi approaching us at high speed, and she seems to have more chakra than anyone I've ever seen except for the Hokage and Hikaru-sensei!"

She flicked her wrists, her sais appearing in her fingers as she took up a stance. Naruto drew his ninjatō and Sasuke unsealed his sansetsukon. Together they stood in a loose formation, facing the direction Hinata indicated the person to be coming from.

"Kukukukuku… what's this? Three little genin with weapons?"

A sibilant voice issued from the trees ahead of them, and a Kusa kunoichi appeared. Naruto frowned, channelling wind chakra into his weapon as the other two concentrated on channelling their own chakra.

"Who are you?" Naruto said, sounding a lot braver than he felt as he sensed the low level of killing intent emanating from the person in front of him.

The mysterious kunoichi simply laughed again, and Naruto suddenly noticed that her stance was all wrong. Almost as if it was a man in a woman's body…

"I? I'm nobody you need to concern yourself with; I'm only interested in your little dōjutsu-using friend there…"

Naruto turned to look at Hinata before turning back to the stranger, "You leave Hinata-chan alone!"

The kunoichi laughed, "Not her, you stupid boy. I mean Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke shivered as the honorific brought back memories of his fangirls. Naruto glanced at him for a second before saying, "I'm fairly certain Sasuke doesn't swing your way, you freak."

A tick mark appeared on the mysterious kunoichi's head, "Stupid little brat! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

Naruto's eyebrow rose a little before he turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke, do you have any freaky transgender paedophiles in your bingo book?"

Sasuke shivered again, "I hope not. I think the snake might have something to do with this person though, so I'd say that we're currently facing off against Orochimaru the Snake Sannin."

Naruto nodded before turning back to the man… woman… thing, "Hey, paedo! Are you Orochimaru?"

The _creature _laughed, "I'm impressed, little genin. I thought it'd take longer for you to figure out who I was… kukukukukuku…"

Naruto shivered, "Even his laugh screams "child molester". Let's get out of here, now!"

Orochimaru stopped laughing and spiked his killing intent, driving all three to their knees as visions of their imminent deaths flew through their minds.

Naruto pushed himself upright, leaving his ninjatō embedded in the branch point-down, "Is that… all you've got… you teme? My sensei gives me more of a workout when he's going easy! Fūton: Kaze no Yaiba!" (Wind Release: Wind Blade)

Orochimaru ducked as Naruto's blade of wind shot over his head and chopped off a branch behind him, "Impressive, Naruto-_kun_."

Naruto shook his head, "Hey, don't you start hitting on me as well! Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Sasuke forced his hands to go through seals as the wall of air Naruto had created rippled the leaves around them, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

He spat the fireball directly into the path of Naruto's jutsu, instantly turning what had been a relatively small fireball into a wall of flames that Orochimaru had no way of dodging.

The Snake Sannin's eyes widened comically before the firewall **(A/N: Pun totally intended) **hit him head on.

-WJGW-

"Hinata…" coughed Naruto, leaning on his ninjatō for support, "Did… did it kill him?"

Hinata, still trying to shake off the remnants of Orochimaru's killing intent, activated her Byakugan, "It looks like it."

Naruto nodded, yanking his ninjatō from the branch and gesturing to Sasuke, "Let's go look for the body."

The two boys advanced forwards carefully, staying wary of any attack.

Hinata's shout of warning alerted them. Naruto whirled around to see Orochimaru's head appearing around a tree trunk on the end of his neck which seemed to be extending.

Naruto's stomach lurched as he realized that Orochimaru was heading straight for Sasuke and had his mouth open. Reacting in an instant, Naruto threw himself into a shunshin.

-WJGW-

Sasuke couldn't do anything to get out of the way of Orochimaru's attack. All he could do was turn his head away and prepare for the pain he knew was coming.

It never came. After a second Sasuke noticed this fact and looked up. His eyes widened when he saw Naruto standing in front of him with his arm raised, having blocked Orochimaru's bite with his arm.

-WJGW-

Orochimaru wasn't expecting what happened next. He moved in on the last Uchiha to give him the Cursed Seal, next second the blond brat had stepped in the way so that Orochimaru's fangs sank into his upper arm. With a cry of pain, the boy wrapped his arm around Orochimaru's neck, drew a kunai and began viciously stabbing at Orochimaru's vulnerable skull.

Sasuke stared at his blond friend took the Sannin's attack for him, before he decided to help and took a step forwards and began slashing at Orochimaru's neck with a kunai of his own.

Orochimaru was struggling to get free but the boy had seemingly locked his elbow, leaving Orochimaru incapable of withdrawing his fangs. He couldn't believe he was being beaten up by three _genin_! Deciding there was only one chance, he wriggled, trying to make eye contact with one of the group. His eyes fell on Sasuke, and a maniacal grin spread across his face as he activated his soul transfer jutsu.

Sasuke, unperturbed, simply activated his Sharingan, thereby setting in motion the second (or rather, the technical first, as the original case had not happened yet) case of two jutsu combining with unexpected results, ironically both being caused by a Sharingan.

Orochimaru's yellow eyes widened in horror as he felt Sasuke's Sharingan suck away his mastery of the taijutsu Hebi Style, his Snake Summoning Contract, and his knowledge of the Cursed Seal. Unable to stand the loss of his signature techniques he screamed, "NO!" and yanked his head backwards just in time, his teeth leaving the Uzumaki boy's arm as his head landed back on his shoulders with a soft snapping noise that left the watching Hyūga sick before she moved in to examine the Uzumaki's wound.

Orochimaru bit his thumb, "Summoning Jutsu!" Nothing happened, he tried again, "Summoning Jutsu!" Again, nothing. "SUMMONING JUTSU!" He screamed, only to receive the same result.

Naruto watched this with mild interest before turning to Sasuke, "You alright, Sasuke?"

Sasuke was flexing his limbs experimentally, "I think so. Let me try the same,"

He bit his thumb, flashed through handseals he didn't realize he knew, and then slammed his hand onto the branch, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A large black snake appeared; coiling around Sasuke's feet as it looked up at him, **"Who are you? Where is Orochimaru!"**

Sasuke pointed, "Right over there. By the look of it, I may have just stolen his contract accidentally with my Sharingan."

The snake appeared to blink, but as it had no eyelids the effect wasn't as obvious as it would have been otherwise, **"…That's a novel way to sign a contract. Hmm. Oh well, we snakes didn't really like Orochimaru much anyway. He didn't really treat us as equals like we deserve."**

Sasuke sweat-dropped, "But you're a snake, and I'm a human."

The snake bit him on the ankle, **"And let that be a lesson to you. We are equals, not subordinates. And that little ass-toy of Orochimaru's wonders why Manda was so sour all the time, geez."**

Sasuke stared at the snake, not understanding the reference. The snake caught his confused look, **"What? I mean that Kabuto guy."**

Naruto coughed, putting one hand over the bite marks on his arm which Hinata had just finished bandaging, "The silver-haired guy we met this morning before the first exam, remember? I didn't know he worked for Orochimaru though. There _was _something odd about him though, now that I come to think of it."

The snake shrugged, yet another thing that snakes are physically incapable of doing yet somehow managed to pull off, **"Yeah well now you know what it was." **It curled and flexed a few times, **"Anyway, it looks like Orochimaru's getting pissed; want me to fetch Manda to help you put the smack-down on him? He'd like the opportunity to shut the asshole up."**

Sasuke smirked, "This guy hurt my team-mate, why would I say no?"

"Awwww, Sasuke!" said Naruto cheerfully, despite stabs of pain shooting up his arm from the bite mark, "If I didn't know better I'd say you actually liked me!"

Sasuke gave Naruto the finger before the small snake disappeared, only for the tree they were sitting in to explode into splinters as a truly massive snake appeared beneath them, causing the three of them to drop onto its head. It rolled an eye up at them, **"So you're my new summoner, eh?"**

"Yeah," said Sasuke, "Mind helping us? As an equal?"

Manda hissed with laughter, **"I like you, kid!"**

His tail blurred around at top speed and smashed down on Orochimaru, who was only just fast enough to pull off a Substitution to escape.

"Well?" said Naruto, "Did you and your new friend manage to get rid of him Sasuke?"

Sasuke frowned, "Manda?"

Manda flicked out his tongue, **"I cannot taste his scent on the air other than the remnants from his presence. I believe it would be safe to assume that he is gone from this place."**

Sasuke nodded. Manda tasted the air one last time before he hissed, **"I am returning to my realm, if you no longer need me. I would like you to summon me later on however; I feel that we need to get to know each other as partners if we ever need to fight again."**

Sasuke nodded, "Of course."

There was a sudden strangled groan from behind Sasuke as Manda allowed them to climb off his head before disappearing in a plume of smoke, followed by a quiet cry of, "Naruto-kun!"

Sasuke turned around to see that Naruto was kneeling on the ground, his hand pressed over the place where Orochimaru had bitten him and an odd, red glow forming around his body.

Hinata was kneeling next to him with her Byakugan active, obviously examining the wound. After a second she turned to look at Sasuke, "There's some kind of mark forming next to the puncture wounds. It seems to be injecting some kind of tainted chakra into his system. His own chakra is trying to repel it. Oddly there's also red chakra, which I guess is the Kyūbi's, circulating through his entire body. I think that may be what's causing this glow."

Naruto suddenly passed out and slumped against Hinata's shoulder.

Hinata looked up at Sasuke, "Can you help me carry him?"

Sasuke smirked, "I can do one better than that. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hinata watched as a clone of Sasuke appeared. It was evident he'd come a long way since the first time he'd created a Kage Bunshin; this time he simply took a deep breath and leaned on his knees for a second before recovering.

As the two genin resealed their weapons and the Bunshin picked up Naruto, Hinata activated her Byakugan.

"Nobody around," she reported, "Let's move before somebody comes across us. Shame Orochimaru left no scroll."

Sasuke shrugged, "We can't have everything I guess. Let's go."

The three conscious people set off.

-WJGW-

Naruto found himself standing in a large sewer in front of a pair of huge barred doors. "Hello?" he called.

There was a soft growling sound from the other side of the barred doors, before soft splashing sounds reached his ears and he saw a small figure coming towards him.

As soon as it came into full view, Naruto's jaw dropped.

A tiny fox-cub sat in the cage, staring up at him from the floor, **"Grrr…"**

Naruto stared into the cage, "I kind of expected the Kyūbi no Kitsune to be bigger…"

The tiny nine-tailed fox cub growled up at him, **"Shut it, gaki!"**

Naruto smirked, waving a hand so that a gap appeared between the bars just large enough for him to slip through. The fox cub grinned and leapt up at the bars, but Naruto caught it by the scruff of the neck and stepped into the cage, "Awwww, aren't you cute? Like a little puppy!"

The Kyūbi snarled and snapped at him, trying to get at him, **"Just you wait, gaki! When I get out of here you are going to be the first person I eat!"**

Naruto raised the small bijuu to eye-level, "And what are you going to do then? Nibble on my sleeve?"

There was a vicious snarl from the diminutive creature, but he didn't react. He tried to hit Naruto in the face with his paws a couple of times, but finally gave up and just hung there, **"Fine. We needed to have a chat anyway about that seal the snake freak put on you."**

Naruto stepped back out, set the Kyūbi down through the gap in the bars and moved them back into position before saying, "Ok then, let's talk. What did you want to talk about?"

Kyūbi sat down, looking a little pensive (if that's possible for a fox), **"That seal is designed so that it injects some tainted chakra into your system which then rewrites your body's genetic structure slightly to accommodate it."**

Naruto said nothing, so the fox continued, **"Now, for any normal human that would be that; there'd be nothing they could do to get rid of it. You, on the other hand, have the perfect defence against it."**

He reached out a paw and tapped one of the bars, **"This seal and me. The seal prevents other seals from taking hold on your body without your consent and mine. However since the seal does what it does with the tainted chakra, the rules are different. I was forced to flood your body with my chakra in order to keep the evil seal from taking hold. This had a couple of side effects, namely that you are now faster, stronger and taller. Your body structure has been altered slightly; your muscles are now a little bigger as well as one particular muscle in particular…"**

The Kyūbi's foxy smile turned a little perverted, and Naruto went red as the implications hit him, "Ero-kitsune!"

The Kyūbi batted its tails at him, **"Meh, you're just in denial that you're as much of a pervert as any man. At least now you can make that cute vixen of yours feel better, right?"**

Naruto didn't respond to that statement other than blushing and getting a small nosebleed.

"**You see?" **cackled Kyūbi, poking the bars with one paw, **"Perversity is in the heart of every man! You cannot deny your deepest, most fundamental nature- ack!"**

Naruto reached through the bars and clouted the fox cub atop his fluffy little head, a tick mark forming on his forehead, "Shut up and tell me what you did to my body!"

Kyūbi rubbed the top of his head with a paw and looked balefully up at Naruto before sighing and sitting back down, **"Aside from the differences in muscle structure, your physique and physical capabilities, what I did didn't change too much more. It'll take a while for you to get used to what did change, however."**

Naruto nodded, "Fine."

"**You should go. I think you've been in here long enough."**

The Kyūbi flicked his tails, and Naruto felt himself be forced from his mindscape.

-WJGW-

Naruto groaned and rolled onto his side, clutching his head as what felt like the mother of all hangovers set in. Outside what he now realized was a hollow tree; he could hear the sounds of combat.

Whimpering with pain at the ache in his head and the spasms of pain in his upper arm, Naruto pushed himself upright and staggered to the opening in the trunk.

Sasuke and Hinata were currently engaging two people he recognized as being the two male Oto-nin from the first phase.

Leaning against the root that curved out of the trunk to his left, Naruto squinted around.

Several senbon flew from the brown-haired kunoichi on the Oto team and hit Hinata in the arm, distracting her from her own target.

Naruto saw the bandaged shinobi she was fighting draw back his arm and immediately moved.

-WJGW-

Dosu was just about to strike down the indigo-haired kunoichi he was fighting when a hand caught his wrist and snapped it like a twig.

Crying out in pain, he leapt away to stand beside Zaku as he saw a blond nin he recognized from the first exam standing where he had been.

The nin swayed slightly before pointing one hand at him, "Don't you dare lay a hand on my friends…"

Inwardly he was saying, _"Dammit, Kyūbi! My balance is off and I can barely stay upright!"_

"_**Yeah, yeah, just live with it for now alright?"**_

The bandaged Oto-nin turned and nodded to his friend, who grinned and raised his hands.

Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke saw a small hole in each of his palms. The Oto-nin grinned and opened his mouth to voice his jutsu when there was a cry of "SABAKU KYŪ!"

Naruto blinked as he saw all three Oto-nin be wrapped from head to toe in sand, before he and his teammates turned to face the trees from which the voice had issued.

Three figures entered the clearing; one with his hand raised, sea-green eyes glinting out from under a fringe of red hair and the kanji letter for love tattooed on the side of his head above his left eye; the second clad in black with face-paint spread across his cheeks and a wrapped bundle on his back, and the third a girl with blonde hair pulled back into four spiky ponytails and a fan on her back.

"And you are?" said Naruto, staggering slightly before Hinata darted forwards to support him.

The redhead turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised, "Sabaku no Gaara. Are you related to Hikaru Namikaze?"

Naruto's eyebrow went up, "He's my cousin and our sensei, why?"

Gaara smiled a small smile, "Excellent, then this goes a little way towards repaying my debt to him."

Sasuke frowned, "What do you owe our sensei for?"

Gaara turned his eyes on the Uchiha, "He repaired my faulty seal."

Naruto gave Hinata a thankful smile before addressing Gaara, "Seal? You're a jinchūriki?"

Gaara nodded, "You know what I am?"

Naruto grinned, "I guess it takes one to know one. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, at your service."

Gaara nodded, "Ichibi no Shukaku."

A muffled voice from behind them drew their attention to the sand cocoons. Gaara twitched his fingers, dropping the sand from around the three prisoners' faces. The one with spiky hair and a mask-like hitai-ate shouted at Gaara, "What the hell do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be helping us with the invasion, you moron!"

There was dead silence as Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata turned to face Gaara, "What's this about an invasion?"

Gaara shrugged, "Our father made a deal with Orochimaru of the Sannin to invade and destroy Konoha. I was supposed to be an instrumental part of that plot, at least until your cousin repaired my seal and allowed me to see the bigger picture."

Sasuke stepped forwards, "Gaara? Can you spare the girl, but knock her unconscious? We need to hand one of these guys to the T&I Division so they can prepare for the invasion."

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, DUMB SHIT?" the girl screamed as Sasuke advanced on her, "YOU JUST GAVE AWAY OROCHIMARU-SAMA'S PLANS _AND_ I'M GONNA GET TORTURED THANKS TO YOU!"

The boy who had shouted at Gaara snorted, "What's the problem? I doubt these Leaf pussies are any good at torture!"

Sasuke snorted, "That's what you think. You know the proctors for the first and second phases? They're T&I, our sensei told us about them. They're the best at what they do. Now, I want to know your names and anything you know about the invasion, and I want to know it five minutes ago."

The spiky-haired shinobi spat at Sasuke, "My name's Zaku Abumi, and that's all you'll get out of me you Leaf freak!"

Sasuke moved onto the bandaged one, "You?"

The boy looked down, "Dosu. Dosu Kinuta."

Sasuke moved to the girl, "And last but not least, you."

The girl frowned, "Kin Tsuchi."

Sasuke nodded, sitting on the floor, "Alright then. Gaara, care to do the honours? Please keep the girl alive though."

Gaara nodded, released the girl from his sand (instructing his teammates to hold her still) and wrapped the sand back around the heads of the two male Oto-nins. "Sabaku Sōsō!"

There were two muffled crunches from inside the sand, and the sand turned an odd shade of red. Kin's eyes went wide and she began to cry, "Please, kill me as well!"

Naruto, still being supported on Hinata's shoulder, limped over to her. The girl looked up at him, "Please…" she whispered, tears pouring from her doe brown eyes, "Kill me."

Naruto shook his head, "Sorry. We need somebody who can tell us about the invasion."

The girl began to cry even harder as Sasuke tugged a roll of ninja wire out of his belt pouch and began hogtying her with it.

"Well, Gaara?" said Naruto, holding out a hand as the sand he had killed Dosu and Zaku with returned to the gourd on his back, "Care to accompany us to the tower? You got both your scrolls?"

Gaara looked over to the girl on his team, who produced a single Earth scroll.

"We…" whimpered Kin as Sasuke picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of rice, his sansetsukon having been returned to its seal on his glove, "We had an Earth scroll as well… it's in my pocket."

Sasuke rummaged in the aforementioned pocket and quickly located the scroll, pocketing it and turning to Gaara, "Do you have a Heaven scroll?"

Gaara shook his head, "No… your team and hers," he nodded to Kin, "are the only teams we have encountered so far."

Naruto smiled, "Well isn't that convenient. Hinata-chan, in my belt pouch…"

Hinata suddenly smiled, remembering that they had two Heaven scrolls and dipping her fingers into Naruto's belt pouch, quickly producing the scroll and throwing it to Gaara, who caught it with his sand and passed it off to the third member of his team.

Naruto grinned, "By the way Gaara, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Sasuke Uchiha," the indicated male nodded as he shifted Kin slightly on his shoulder, "and my girlfriend, Hinata Hyūga."

Hinata smiled and waved with the arm that wasn't currently holding Naruto upright.

Gaara indicated his teammates, "My brother and sister, Kankurō and Temari."

Both nodded to Naruto and his teammates.

Gaara extended a hand and a sheet of sand formed behind Naruto. Naruto allowed himself to topple backwards onto it and smiled, "For sand that just killed two people, this stuff's actually fairly comfortable."

Gaara's tone was dripping with sarcasm as he said, "Only the best for you, Naruto-_sama_."

Naruto looked up at him and scowled, "Gee, for a jinchūriki you're as sarcastic as all hell."

Temari leaned over him, "Actually he's only been like that for the last week. Ever since Namikaze-sama fixed the seal he's actually developed an attitude! I'm so proud of my adorable little brother!" She leaned over and pinched Gaara's cheek.

A vein pulsed in Gaara's forehead as Kankurō sniggered. Temari gave her brother a small smirk and jumped away from him.

Naruto fought down the urge to snigger, feeling that laughing at a new friend wouldn't be the best plan.

They had a further couple of minutes more discussion, before they set off in the direction of the tower.

-WJGW-

**One day later.**

"I think we should open the scrolls."

"It's a good plan. Anko-san did say that we weren't to open the scrolls in the forest but didn't say anything about the tower."

Naruto tugged the Heaven scroll from his pocket as Sasuke pulled out his Earth scroll. As one, they opened the scrolls and threw them onto the ground when they began to smoke.

Hikaru appeared out of the smoke and grinned, "Hey guys, how did you… what the hell happened to you?"

Naruto scratched his ear, "Don't ask. I think the only one who's come out of that damn forest unscathed is Hinata-chan!"

Hikaru blinked, "What happened to Sasuke?"

Sasuke scratched his cheek, "We got attacked by Orochimaru, we managed to drive him off though… and for some reason I can now summon snakes…"

Hikaru frowned, "All three of you, come with me. And bring that Oto kunoichi with you."

Sasuke picked up Kin and slung her over his shoulder again before the three genin followed Hikaru along a couple of corridors until they finally found the Hokage standing talking to a group of ANBU.

"Hokage-sama," said Hikaru, nodding to the Hokage as they approached.

"Hikaru-san," said Sarutobi back, "What's the problem?"

Hikaru nodded towards his genin, "They seem to have had a little trouble within the forest. Aside from Naruto's obvious physical changes, which I intend to find the cause of soon, Sasuke also seems to have gotten Orochimaru's snake-based abilities; namely summoning and I'd be willing to bet that he can use the Hebi style as well."

Sarutobi frowned, "I need to know _exactly _what happened out there from all three of you. I would also like to know why one of the Oto team is tied up on your shoulder, Sasuke-san."

"I can answer that."

Everybody turned to find Gaara leaning against the doorframe with Kankurō and Temari standing behind him.

"Gaara?" Hikaru said blankly.

Gaara nodded, "After you repaired my seal, I began pondering ways in which I could repay you for it. Therefore after you revealed yourself to know the Yondaime Hokage's signature jutsu and the Iwa-nin spoke of informing the Tsuchikage of your existence so that they would declare war, I knew I had to deal with them. Fortunately, we were given a gate quite close to the one the Iwa team were given, so the first thing I did was seeking them out and killing them. They had apparently already lost their scroll to another team. After that, I sought out Naruto, reasoning that since you both looked so much alike he was bound to be targeted next. We arrived in time to capture the three Oto-nins attacking them."

Sarutobi looked at Gaara for a long moment before he said, "You are an odd fellow, Gaara-san."

Gaara raised an eyebrow, "Is that a bad thing?"

Hikaru laughed, "Probably not."

Gaara walked a little closer, his siblings following him, "I feel I should inform you, Hokage-sama; my father has made an agreement with Orochimaru to turn on the Leaf during the third phase of the Chūnin Exams."

Sarutobi nodded before smiling at the boy, "Thank you for telling me this, Gaara-san. I appreciate the fact that it must've taken a fair amount of willpower to betray Suna like this."

Temari snorted behind Gaara, "Suna's had it coming for a long time now. If it weren't for the Shukaku's psyche leaking into Gaara's and making him a bloodthirsty maniac, I think he'd probably have killed most of the village by now. Actually, that might have happened had he still had the Shukaku's psyche leaking into his. On second thoughts, I'm glad the Shukaku's psyche isn't leaking into his any more. It means I get to have my adorable little brother back!" She reached out to pinch Gaara's cheek, causing the redhead to swat her hand away with some of his sand.

Behind the Hokage, Hikaru dissolved into giggles, _"This is so much fun! I'm glad I repaired Gaara's seal now!"_

Sarutobi smiled before turning to Hikaru, "Hikaru-san?"

Hikaru stopped laughing and shot to attention, "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

The old man pointed to the unconscious Oto kunoichi, "Take her to the T&I Division at once. Tell Ibiki that I want her spilling her innermost secrets as soon as possible."

Hikaru nodded, "Got it." He collected the girl from Sasuke and vanished in a flash of light.

-WJGW-

Kin came round to find herself sitting in a dark room, her wrists and ankles shackled to the arms and legs of the chair and a seal tag on her chest which she guessed was restraining her chakra. To her embarrassment, she was naked.

A soft sound drew her attention to the other side of the table in front of her, where she saw a tall man lounging in the chair opposite and playing with a three-pointed kunai.

He noticed she was looking around and smiled, his eyes fixed on her face, "Ah, you're awake."

Kin looked around, "Where am I?"

The man smiled, "Konoha's T&I Division. How do you feel?"

Kin winced, "Like somebody beat me unconscious with a tetsubo. Why am I naked?"

The man smiled, "Ah well, you'll recover. The reason you're naked is because it's protocol to strip search any prisoners before interrogating them. Can't have one activating an exploding tag hidden up their ass, can we?"

Kin blushed, "Did… did you…?"

His grin vanished, "No, of course not. I persuaded two of my female friends who work in here to do it. Doing that to an unconscious girl two-thirds my age would make me feel like Orochimaru, and I'd rather die than have the same preferences as him. I'm a Namikaze, for crying out loud. My cousin'd probably find a way to come back to life and kick my ass if I turned into a paedophile."

Kin giggled despite the lingering embarrassment of finding herself stark naked in front of a grown man, before she remembered where she was and sobered up a little, "I already told those genin in the Forest everything they wanted to know."

He smiled again, "Yes, but I need to know more. They just wanted to know your name. I want to know everything. Where you come from, anything you know about Oto's forces and whatnot."

Kin stayed silent. The man sighed, "My team told me your name, Kin Tsuchi, so I'd like to talk to you. You see, I can help you if you help me. What were your orders?"

Kin sighed, "Orochimaru ordered us to kill Sasuke Uchiha."

Hikaru smiled, "Thank you. Now I'll tell you a little bit of truth. That was meant to be a suicide mission. Orochimaru intended to mark Sasuke with something known as the Cursed Seal of Heaven; ever heard of it?"

Kin's silence showed she hadn't, so he explained, "It's basically a power boost of the worst kind. It modifies your body on a cellular level in order to give you power beyond that which you can get by normal means, but over time it degrades your mind and soul. You and your team were, in Orochimaru's eyes, lab rats. You were meant to be Sasuke's first test using the Cursed Seal of Heaven, you were meant to die out there."

Kin looked up. "Then why am I not dead?" she asked dully.

Hikaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "You're not dead because my genin team are the best in their generation. They fought Orochimaru to a standstill and managed to drive him off. He fled before he could mark Sasuke, so your mission was therefore invalid."

Kin looked puzzled, "If Orochimaru failed, then why did he come to us and instruct us to kill Sasuke Uchiha at any cost anyway?"

Hikaru shrugged, "I don't know. The Snake Sannin's mind works in ways I don't understand and don't particularly wish to understand. Maybe he thought you three would be able to accomplish what he could not, unlikely as it seems. Maybe he was just throwing your lives away before you got caught by the ANBU and interrogated, which would spell the end to Orochimaru's plans since he would then no longer have the element of surprise."

Kin stayed silent, so Hikaru sighed and leaned forward across the table, "Look Kin, if you want me to help you then you have to open up to me. If you don't cooperate, you'll have to go through unspeakable torments and have your mind and free will broken completely with no chance of rebuilding them. I don't want that to happen to you, you don't want that to happen to you, so please work with me here and I'll try and help you in return."

Kin sighed, "Alright. As you know, my name is Kin Tsuchi. I came to be in Oto because my clan was one of the original founding clans of Iwagakure. Our clan got the Shodaime and Nidaime, but when the Kiiroi Senkō killed three hundred Iwa-nins, including a large number of my clan, in battle at the end of the last war, the Sandaime became so angry he ordered my family traitors because they failed to stop the Kiiroi Senkō and had them massacred in the middle of the night by a BOULDER team."

She hesitated, but a gesture from Hikaru made her forge onward, "My mother and father managed to escape into the tunnels our clan had built under our estate, where we had once stored all the valuable items belonging to my clan. She sealed everything into the sealing array on her necklace and then they left through an emergency escape tunnel that led out of the village. She told me the entire story before she died, since I wasn't born at the time."

A tear slid down her cheek, "My mother ended up extremely weak from the mass sealing she performed down in the tunnels, so the BOULDER team that had destroyed my clan were able to catch up quite quickly when they found the tunnel network. They tracked them for miles and miles, until finally my mother collapsed from exhaustion. She had pushed herself to her limits and beyond in order to get me to safety. My father hid her behind an outcropping of rock and told her to run, so she ran. She was some distance away when there was a loud explosion. I later found out from my mother that it was my father, using one of our clan's forbidden techniques to make sure that they couldn't follow us."

Hikaru nodded, "If you don't mind me asking, what was the jutsu?"

Kin thought for a second, "My mother told me about it when I was eight, just before she died. It was a suicide jutsu called Earth Tomb…" she struggled mentally for a second, trying to recall six-year-old information, "Anybody in the vicinity; allies and enemies alike are encased in stone and buried thousands of feet underground along with the user of the jutsu. Body clean-up, a last resort jutsu and getting rid of the only people who knew that my mother escaped alive all rolled into one. My mother died of illness beside her new husband, my biological father, when I was eight years old. He was a bit of a bastard though, so I always considered my mother's first husband my real father. In her final hours she gave me her necklace, along with a few words of warning for the future, and then died." Her tone was a little bitter.

Hikaru nodded, scribbling on a notepad before he said, "You said she gave you her necklace. Is this the necklace to which you refer?" He reached into a pocket and set down a small gold object on the table.

Kin leaned forwards to see, Hikaru pushing it within range, and then she nodded, "That's my mother's necklace. I can't count the amount of times my biological father tried to steal it off me. Eventually I just left."

Hikaru held it up, examining it, "It's beautiful."

It was. The kanji for Tsuchi decorated the front side, spelt out in small brown gemstones, while a tiny sealing array decorated the other side.

Hikaru scrutinized the sealing array for a long moment, "Whoever made this was very good at fūinjutsu, to be able to make even a simple seal like this on something so small."

Kin nodded proudly, "The Shodaime Tsuchikage made it the year Iwa was founded. When he died he passed it to his successor, and when his successor died it went to my great-grandfather. Then it got passed down to my grandfather, who gave it to my father, who gave it to my mother the day he proposed to her. Then she gave it to me."

Hikaru pocketed the necklace again. Kin looked towards the pocket he'd put it in sadly for a long moment before she said, "So what else do you want from me? I've told you where I come from. If you're going to send me back to the Tsuchikage as a missing-nin I'm sure he'd reward you, though judging by the reactions of the Iwa team before the second phase I don't think he would willingly."

Hikaru chuckled, "No, I don't think he would after what my cousin did during the last war."

Kin frowned, "But if you aren't going to hand me over to Iwa, what are you planning to do with me? Are you just going to kill me?"

Hikaru shook his head, "As I said, if you work with me I can try and help you in return. Depending on how much more cooperative you are with me, I might even be able to persuade the Hokage to allow you to join our ranks as a Leaf kunoichi. Would you like that?"

Kin looked up at him, her doe-brown eyes glinting slightly in the glow of the ceiling light, "You'd do that?"

Hikaru smiled and nodded, "If you behave."

Kin visibly cheered up, "Alright. You wanted to know about Oto's troops, right?"

At the blond man's nod she continued, "Right. All told, I think Oto's troops number about a thousand or so. Out of that, I know only six apart from my… ex… teammates."

Hikaru picked up the notepad and started taking notes again, "Alright. Who are the six you know? I need names, physical descriptions and if you can their abilities."

Kin thought for a second, "First, my friend Karin Akage and her twin sister Tayuya. They looked after me when I first arrived in Oto, they sort of took pity on me because I was scared and confused, and I guess they singled me out because I was a girl. They kept me safe from all the guys in Oto, I owe them for that. Karin wears glasses, has red eyes and she has a very distinctive hairstyle. It's short and spiky on the right side and long and smooth on the left. As for her abilities, about all I can tell you is that she's not a combat-oriented kunoichi. If I had to say what role she'd play, I'd have to say support and sensing. She's got this one ability where she can sense people's chakra across an incredible distance, it's been years since I saw her but I'd imagine her sensing ability has only grown since then. She also has another ability where anybody that bites her arm will be healed by her chakra. She used it to fix me up on more than one occasion."

Hikaru nodded, "And Tayuya?"

Kin smiled, "Tayuya is about the same height as Karin; she has brown eyes and spiky hair that she always wears a hat over. She uses a flute in combat, making genjutsu like I do with my bells. Aside from making genjutsu she can also summon these three monsters called her Doki. That's all I know."

Hikaru nodded, "Next?"

Kin swallowed, "Sakon and Ukon. They have this kekkei genkai which allows them to take control of somebody's body and literally deconstruct their molecules from the inside out."

Hikaru shuddered, "That's just nasty. What does he… they… look like?"

Kin snorted, "I don't think you need a standard description, just look for the guy with two heads, ok?"

"I'd still like it."

"Long lank blue-grey hair covering one eye, brown eyeliner, turquoise lipstick. Ukon's head is on Sakon's back behind his head."

"Thanks… next?"

"Kidōmaru. He's pretty distinctive as well, since he has four extra arms. He uses techniques I can only really describe as spiderlike. He can make webs with his chakra and stuff. He also has a third eye in the middle of his forehead, but he wears his forehead protector over it."

"Got it… next one?"

"Jirōbō, he's fairly chunky with orange hair cut into a Mohawk. He uses some Doton ninjutsu and he's really strong. He can also drain chakra from people."

Hikaru finished writing and said, "And the last one?"

Kin looked down, "That'd be Kimimaro Kaguya. He has white hair down to his shoulders, really bright green eyes and pale skin. He has two red dots on his forehead, which he told me once was his clan's old symbol before they got wiped out." She gave a small smile, "He was the only male in Oto to ever treat me with any respect. All the others couldn't have given a damn, even Kidōmaru, Sakon and Ukon and Jirōbō didn't care at all. Karin, Tayuya and Kimimaro were all my friends in Oto."

Hikaru smiled, flipping the notebook shut and pocketing it, "Thanks, Kin-san. You've been a big help today. Now, my friends will escort you to a cell and make you feel comfortable while I go report in. See you!"

He headed out the door, saying something to somebody outside. A second later, two women entered; one with violet hair and brown eyes and wearing a trench coat and a miniskirt over a mesh bodysuit, and one with long purple hair wearing ANBU gear and a cat mask.

The violet-haired woman smiled at Kin while she undid the shackles around her wrists and ankles and the purple-haired ANBU tugged her up, "You're pretty lucky. Seems Hikaru-kun likes you."

Kin swallowed, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

The ANBU seemed to smile, though her mask showed nothing to confirm it, "Only ever going to be a good thing, little girl."

-WJGW-

"Hokage-sama," Hikaru said as soon as he and Sarutobi were standing in the Hokage's office behind silencing seals, "I spoke with Kin Tsuchi and obtained a lot of information about Oto's troops. Some of it I knew already but mainly it was fairly informative. I think I can probably come up with a plan to combat them when the situation prevents itself."

Sarutobi frowned, "Isn't it possible to avoid the situation altogether?"

Hikaru shook his head, "It's too late for that. As far as I know, the Kazekage has already been killed by Orochimaru and Suna already believes that they're going forward with the plan. I could probably send a clone to Suna and try to gain an audience with the Kazekage to see if he's still alive. I think he is, because I remember Gaara telling me that his body was found in a crevasse a few miles outside Suna back in my own time."

Sarutobi nodded, "Do whatever you need to do."

Hikaru smiled and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

-WJGW-

**Two days later.**

Hikaru dropped out of the Hiraishin jutsu in front of Suna's gates and gasped for breath. He may have had incredible endurance and even better chakra reserves courtesy of the Kyūbi, but damn if doing that many Hiraishin that the trip between Konoha and Suna only took two days didn't hurt like hell.

Straightening back up, he took a few steps towards the gates of Suna, only to be surrounded by shinobi, "Halt! State your purpose here!"

Hikaru smiled, "Hikaru Namikaze of the Leaf Village, here to see the Kazekage."

-WJGW-

The name Namikaze had evidently had an instant effect on the shinobi surrounding him, since he was rushed through Suna to the Kazekage's Tower almost immediately.

Now he stood in front of the Kazekage's desk, looking across it at a man who looked a lot like Kankurō with slightly lighter hair, "Kazekage-sama, I come here today to warn you that it has been discovered that Otogakure no Sato is plotting an invasion of Konoha during the third phase of the Chūnin Exams."

He saw the man's eyes flicker slightly with worry before he replied, "Very well. What do you want from me?"

Hikaru smiled, "As you will probably recall, there is a treaty between Konoha and Suna. We have also become aware that lately the daimyō of Kaze no Kuni has been outsourcing a lot of his missions to Konoha in order to save money."

The Kazekage scowled, "What is your point, Namikaze?"

Hikaru's smile widened, "I met one of your jōnin, a man by the name of Baki in Konoha, who explained to me that Suna was having financial problems due to the daimyō's cutting costs."

The Kazekage sighed, "Yes, we are."

Hikaru smiled, "Well I have a solution for you. If we continue to take missions, but keep aside the pay for you, that would allow you to get your village back on its feet. I have the Hokage's backing with this plan."

The Kazekage leaned forwards, "The fact of the matter is, Orochimaru already approached me about helping him destroy Konoha. He reasoned that it would both take away the daimyō's main source of missions and make him turn his eyes back to us, as well as proving to him that our shinobi are strong."

Hikaru nodded, "I understand your reasoning, however I feel I must disappoint you. Orochimaru only cares about his own gain. I suspect he intends to kill you and sneak into Konoha disguised as you as soon as you depart for the Chūnin Exams."

The Kazekage thought about this, "If I were to disregard your warning, and join with Orochimaru anyway?"

Hikaru smiled thinly, reaching into his jacket and drawing a three-pointed kunai, "Then I will tell my Hokage to sever the treaty and treat any of your shinobi like enemies. Then it won't just be Iwa to have been on the receiving end of the Yellow Flash's signature jutsu."

The Kazekage's eyes widened, but he raised a hand and signalled the DUNE in the room to stand down. **(A/N: I think that just calling them ANBU for all five nations is boring. Hence Kumo has BOLT, Iwa has BOULDER, Taki has CASCADE, Mizu will have HAZE, Suna has DUNE and Konoha has their ANBU and to a lesser extent, ROOT.)**

"You have a choice to make, Kazekage-sama," said Hikaru, "Work with Konoha to bring down Orochimaru, and we can try to figure out a way to make everybody happy… or join up with Orochimaru, which will end in the destruction of Suna."

The Kazekage thought for a long moment before sighing, "You win. I accept your offer."

Hikaru beamed, "Thank you, Kazekage-sama. The second thing I need to tell you is it would be advisable to send a message to Konoha before you set out. I will then come to collect you personally, as it would be far easier to skip over the ambush via Hiraishin than to walk straight into it and try to fight."

"I am a Kage…"

"…and Orochimaru is an SS-ranked nuke-nin Sannin with better-than-Kage skills and having had plenty of time to improve on them. Believe me when I say, Kazekage-sama, it would be far easier for me to accompany you to Konoha and ensure that you arrive safely than allow you to die."

The Kazekage nodded before standing up and holding out a hand, "Thank you, Namikaze-san."

Hikaru smiled, "It's alright. We're allies, it's our prerogative to help you. Now, I need to be going, I've got to get back to the Forest of Death in time for the preliminary elimination rounds and see how my genin are doing."

The Kazekage nodded before a thought struck him, "Are my children alright?"

"That'd be… Gaara, Kankurō and Temari right?"

At the Kazekage's nod he smiled, "They're fine. Gaara's rather enjoying sleeping at night."

The Kazekage's jaw dropped, "He's sleeping?"

Hikaru gave him a sardonic look, "I can recognize a jinchūriki when I meet one. I could tell the minute I met him that the seal was faulty, so I fixed it for him. Gaara's now completely sane, happy and well-rested. I sincerely hope you don't mind."

Tears sprang from the Kazekage's eyes, "Thank you, Namikaze-sama. Thank you so much." **(A/N: I decided to make him a bit more emotional and family-minded in this. Didn't seem right to make him an out-and-out bastard like he is in canon.)**

Hikaru grinned, "It's alright, Kazekage-sama. A close relation of mine is one as well, and they seem to have made friends. You can see him when you come to the finals. Now I've got to go."

The Kazekage smiled and escorted Hikaru out of his office and down to the gates of Suna, where he bid the blond man goodbye and watched as he flung a kunai out of the gates and disappeared.

-WJGW-

**Another two days later.**

Hikaru arrived back in Konoha nearly totally exhausted, and made his way quickly over to where Zabuza and Haku lived to collect them. They quickly geared up and Hikaru transported all three to the Forest of Death, leaving both waiting in a room off the main entrance in preparation for the operation.

He walked into the whole and moved up to where Anko stood, whispering into her ear, "Showtime. You should get over to the T&I Division; I'm going to get the guy you want as soon as he leaves the building."

Anko nodded, created a Kage Bunshin, and made to leave when Hikaru handed her a Hiraishin kunai, "Take this. I can't move through the village with the traitor or somebody might see me. With that I can just move straight to the T&I Division with him."

Anko nodded, slipped the kunai into her pocket and disappeared in a shunshin.

Hikaru turned his attention to the Hokage, who had just introduced Hayate Gekkō. Hayate coughed, "Alright, anybody who doesn't want to continue into the preliminary round should leave now."

As Kabuto raised his hand and left the hall, Hikaru teleported to the kunai he had left with Zabuza, "He's left the hall now. Get outside quickly."

Zabuza and Haku headed outside and used a genjutsu to conceal themselves. Hikaru walked up the wall next to the door and stood ready.

It took a couple more minutes, but eventually Kabuto emerged into the outside air. Hikaru waited until he was about twelve feet away from the doors before signalling.

Kabuto looked around as the air suddenly filled with mist, leaving him unable to see. Activating his chakra scalpels, he looked around cautiously only to suddenly become aware of a dark figure making seals in front of him.

Before Kabuto could attack, the person finished their jutsu and large mirrors of ice rose all around him, trapping him within a dome.

Haku stepped into the mirror in front of her, identical images of her appearing in the rest of the mirrors as she intoned, "Makyō Hyōshō." (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)

Kabuto smiled, "Nice try, little girl, but do you think this can hold me?"

"No," admitted Haku, "But this will. Sensatsu Suishō!" (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)

Kabuto flashed through seals, "Doton: Nashi!" (Earth Release: Protection)

His skin turned momentarily grey **(A/N: Think Kakuzu using Earth Spear) **and the needles pinged harmlessly off it.

As soon as the grey pigment retreated from Kabuto's skin, Haku launched a second attack, "Tsurara no Ame!" (Icicle Rain)

Again Kabuto's skin turned grey, but this time it turned back to normal colour before the barrage had finished, so some of the icicles formed from the mirrors sank into his flesh and caused him to wince.

Hikaru jumped down and landed next to Zabuza, who glanced at him, "You do remember that if he hurts her I'm going to blame you?"

Hikaru smirked, "Hey, Sasuke would get madder if I got his girlfriend killed, so I'm going to take down Kabuto right now."

He tugged a seal from his pocket, inspected it for a second to make sure it was what he needed, then threw a kunai into the dome.

Kabuto was just about to attack the ice mirrors to try and hit his attacker when a kunai passed in front of him. Before he had time to react, Hikaru Namikaze appeared and slammed a sleep seal onto his head, closely followed by a chakra draining seal to his chest.

Kabuto collapsed onto the ground. Hikaru turned to grin into the mirror, "Nice job distracting him Haku, I'm going to have to get you something nice as a reward!"

"Namikaze-sama," said her voice from behind him, "I'm over here."

Hikaru turned around to see the girl emerging from the mirror directly behind him. She made a seal, collapsing the jutsu and allowing the mirrors to disappear.

Hikaru picked up the still-somewhat-perforated traitor and slung him over his shoulder, "Anyway, do you want anything as a little gift as a reward for helping me bring this guy down?"

Haku gave him a small smile, "Just make sure that Sasuke-kun has time to come and see me from time to time and I'll call it quits."

"Of course, Haku-sama," said Hikaru, giving the girl a mock bow before grinning at them, "You're more than welcome to enter the tower and watch Sasuke at work, I need to get this one over to the T&I Division."

Zabuza handed him the Hiraishin kunai he had borrowed earlier and Hikaru vanished in a flash of light.

-WJGW-

Anko was pacing the main hall of the T&I Division headquarters occasionally glancing at the Hiraishin kunai lying on the table when there was a flash and Hikaru appeared, a limp body slung around his shoulders.

"Awww!" said Anko happily, moving forwards to help him, "You brought me a present!" She kissed the blond on the cheek before calling two ANBU to help her get him to an interrogation room.

Hikaru had picked up the kunai and prepared to exit when he heard a voice say, "Hikaru-kun?"

Turning, he saw Yūgao in her ANBU uniform walking up to him, "Hello, koneko-chan. You're back on your feet quickly."

The woman pushed up her mask and pouted, "Doctor Yakushi released me yesterday. He told me that I am under no circumstances to fight anybody, but I am allowed to return to my job in the T&I Division." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at an ANBU with a crane mask who was watching her from across the room, "I just have to have our resident ANBU med-nin watching me the whole time to see if I suddenly become ill."

Hikaru smiled, "It's good that you can go back to work. What did you want to talk about?"

Yūgao smiled, "Can I have a word in private?"

"Sure," said Hikaru, escorting her over to the other corner, where he set up a silencing seal.

Yūgao looked seriously up at him, "Would you mind if I told Anko-chan and Nai-chan about where you really come from?"

Hikaru thought for a second, "Would you trust them to keep the secret?"

Yūgao nodded, "I would trust them with my life."

Hikaru smiled, "Then you're welcome to tell them. Just make sure that it's an S-ranked secret as ordered by the Hokage, alright?"

Yūgao nodded and smiled, "Got it. You should get back to the preliminaries now."

Hikaru checked the clock on the wall, "Oh yeah I should, shouldn't I? See you later!"

He kissed her on the cheek and disappeared, the silencing seal collapsing behind him and Yūgao walking away to join Anko, the silent crane-masked ANBU following her.

-WJGW-

Hikaru appeared behind his team on the balcony just in time to see the board come up with the first pair of names.

**Yoroi Akadō**

**Vs.**

**Sabaku no Kankurō**

Hikaru smiled, "Let the fun begin…"

**(A/N: And so ends another chapter of When Jutsu Go Wrong. I am pleased to announce that Kunai will be next to update, since with the completion of this chapter I am going to focus on that story. I'm about halfway done with 7,234 words, but I still can't say with any degree of accuracy when it'll be posted, so you'll have to content yourselves with this chapter for the time being. Until then however, this is Leonineus saying GOODNIGHT!)**

**(A/N: Also, can anybody name a poison that mimics the effects of anaphylactic shock? I've been looking all over the Internet and come up with zilch, so I'm posing the question to you 'orrible lot. (Jokes, I actually love you all ^_^) The person who can name one gets cookies!)**


	5. A Battle for the Ages

When Jutsu Go Wrong

Chapter Five: A Battle for the Ages

**(A/N: Hello all, sorry for the very long wait, but I sincerely hope you find this extra-long chapter well worth the wait! Now, we left the adventures of Hikaru Namikaze last time just as the first battle of the preliminaries was announced. Now we go straight to that battle. Enjoy!)**

Yoroi Akadō swaggered arrogantly down into the arena, and Hikaru remembered the masked nin from his own time backing up Amachi in the Land of the Sea, and beating up Isaribi.

Privately, he hoped that Kankurō killed the nin here and now.

Kankurō smirked, "You're free to back out now if you wish."

Yoroi's only response was to drop into a taijutsu stance.

Kankurō sighed, "Your funeral." In a great flourish, he tugged off the bandages covering his puppet.

Hayate, realizing that if he wasn't quick they'd start without him, jumped backwards with a shout of "Hajime!"

Everybody watched as Kankurō's puppet flew forwards.

-WJGW-

Kin was sitting in her room inside the ANBU T&I Headquarters, thinking. She had been provided with a grey prison shift and had wrapped her blankets around her, but she was still cold.

Lying down and pulling the blanket tighter around her frame, she smiled to herself as she thought about Hikaru Namikaze's offer. It was truly more than she could have hoped for. Instead of having her tortured for information and killed, he had allowed her to tell him everything of her own accord and then made her an offer for her own protection; being released after the invasion was dealt with and permitted to become a Konoha kunoichi.

As she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off into sleep, she allowed a real smile to cross her lips.

-WJGW-

Hikaru watched with a satisfied smirk barely held back from crossing his lips as Hayate poked the motionless Yoroi with his foot and declared Kankurō the winner in the face of his opponent's demise.

As Yoroi's body was dragged off, Kankurō cast an apologetic look up at Hikaru. The blond jōnin just shrugged and drew one finger across his headband before forming a hebi seal.

Kankurō understood what he was saying, _"It doesn't matter; he was one of Orochimaru's."_

The board flashed and scrolled through names before coming up with two:

**Sakura Haruno**

**Vs.**

**Tenten Takeshi**

Sakura beamed over at Sasuke, "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, I'll impress you with how easily I defeat this bun-haired loser!"

A tic-mark appeared on Tenten's forehead and Kurenai frowned, "Sakura, what have I told you about that?"

Sakura smiled at her sensei, "Don't worry sensei, I just have to get her in my new genjutsu and she's done for! Sasuke-kun will be mine!"

Hikaru bent down, "Do you think she knows you're dating Haku-chan?"

Sasuke sighed, "No… if it were that easy she'd have given up on me already, what will it take?"

For no real reason both looked up at Kurenai. There was a glint of mischief in the woman's eyes. "Nai-chan…" said Hikaru slowly, "Don't do it, _please_."

Kurenai gave a slightly twisted giggle, "I can't help it; you've rubbed off on me, Hikaru-_kun_."

Sasuke elbowed his sensei in the gut as Kurenai turned to her pink-haired student in the arena and shouted, "Sakura! If you win this bout I'll set you up on a date with Sasuke!"

Sasuke dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands as everybody standing around was partially deafened by Sakura's squeal. "CHA! I'LL BEAT HER FOR SASUKE-KUN!"

Kurenai leaned over to her blond colleague as he tried to comfort his despairing raven-haired student, "If she loses, you're taking me on a date."

Hikaru stared at her, "And you say _I _rubbed off on you? I think you're channelling Anko-chan more than me!"

Kurenai simply smiled and turned to face the arena again.

-WJGW-

Hayate looked between them, "Are you both ready?"

Tenten nodded, Sakura just smirked, "Just start the match; I'll take down this bitch in one move!"

Hayate nodded and brought down his hand, "Haj- *cough* -ime!"

Tenten brought her weapon scrolls into her hands and swung them through the air, unfurling them as they moved.

Sakura had started flashing through handseals, but instead found a barrage of weapons flying at her before she could react. Using a Kawarimi, she successfully managed to get off a genjutsu and was just about to celebrate when a long chain with a weight on the end swung out from Tenten's body and wrapped around her several times before pulling taut and sending the pinkette crashing to the floor. She managed to roll over in time to hear, "Nighty-night," and see the end of a wooden tonfa approaching her face at high speed before everything went black.

Hayate poked Sakura with the same stick he had poked Yoroi with earlier before saying, "Shōsha, Tenten Takeshi!

The medic-nins carried Sakura off as Hikaru turned to Kurenai, "Tomorrow night alright for you?"

Kurenai beamed, "That'll be great. Thank you, Hikaru-kun. Are we going anywhere special?"

Hikaru shook his head, "I don't think so. After the picnic incident I'm not too keen on going elsewhere for food."

Realizing what he meant, she nodded, "Tomorrow night at your house then?"

Hikaru smiled, "Got it. Now let's watch the next match."

The board flashed, finally coming up with…

**Ino Yamanaka**

**Vs.**

**Sabaku no Temari**

-WJGW-

Ino snorted, "I'll do better than the forehead, and then Sasuke-kun will be mine!"

Kurenai smirked, "Ino, I- mmph!" but was interrupted as Hikaru saw Sasuke's panicky look and clapped a hand over the red-eyed jōnin's mouth before she could finish her offer. Sasuke cast him a relieved look.

"Let's not do that again, please." Hikaru whispered into her ear.

Kurenai mmph-ed in consent and Hikaru released her with a gentle sigh.

Ino snorted, "I'll take you out in one move!" She formed the seal for her standard mind jutsu, but Temari swept her fan up and in one movement blasted Ino across the room into the wall.

As soon as the platinum blonde had slid, unconscious, to the foot of the wall, Temari sweatdropped, _"Was that it? I expected more."_

Hayate walked over and poked the girl. Satisfied that she wasn't getting up, he raised a hand, "Shōsha, Sabaku no Temari!"

The board flashed and finally came up with two names that Hikaru had been hoping he didn't see this time around.

**Hinata Hyūga**

**Vs.**

**Neji Hyūga**

-WJGW-

Neji smirked at Hinata before walking down to the arena. Hikaru bent to whisper in Hinata's ear, "Don't be afraid. Remember what I've taught you, use your jutsu as we've drilled and you'll be fine. Remember, this is a fellow Hyūga so you already have the measure of his abilities, and he won't be expecting you to know jutsu outside of the Jyūken."

Hinata gave a shaky nod and received a comforting hug from Naruto before steeling herself and walking down the stairs to the arena.

Hayate glanced between the two fighters for a few seconds before he said, "Hajime!" and jumped back.

Just as he had done back in Hikaru's own time, Neji started off the match by telling Hinata she was worthless and should forfeit at once. Her response was to settle into her custom Jyūken stance and prepare to battle.

Neji made the first move, Hinata's stoic silence setting him off on a rant about her being foolish for attempting to deny her fate and causing him to make the first move. In three seconds Hinata had him pinned face-down on the ground with her sitting on his back, his arms twisted up behind him in one hand and her mashing his face into the floor with the other.

"Who's the failure here?" she said irritably as Neji tried to buck her off his back.

"You are!" hissed Neji.

Hinata twisted his arms a little further and there was a dull pop from Neji's shoulder, "Wrong answer." She flicked her wrist once, sending her sai into her hand. Spinning it in her hand, she slammed the blunt end of the weapon against the back of Neji's neck, knocking him unconscious.

Hayate poked the incapacitated Hyūga before saying, "Shōsha, Hinata Hyūga!"

"Hmm," said Hinata in an surprised tone as she climbed off her cousin and allowed the med-nins to carry him off, "That didn't take anywhere near as long as I thought it would." Shrugging, she returned her sai to its seal and moved up to the balcony again.

Naruto gave her a kiss in congratulations when she arrived, and Hikaru suddenly noticed a slightly envious aura emanating from Tenten, standing nearby with Gai and Lee. A small smirk appeared on his face; Tenten seemed to like his student.

The board started cycling again. All eyes were fixed on it and as the board slowed to a stop there was a cry of, "YOSH!"

**Rock Lee**

**Vs.**

**Kiba Inuzuka**

"Hmm, this could be interesting; two taijutsu-users facing off against each other," Hikaru commented.

"Indeed," said Kurenai.

"AHHH! MY EYES!" wailed Kiba's voice behind them.

Hikaru turned around and instinctively covered Kurenai's eyes as he beheld the sunset genjutsu surrounding Gai and Lee.

Naruto picked up a stone and skipped it across the water in the genjutsu, "That's really realistic."

Sasuke meanwhile was frantically attempting to dispel the genjutsu, "Kai! Kai kai! Kai kai kai kai kai kai! Dammit why won't it work?"

Hinata had her Byakugan active, "I can't see any chakra threads, what kind of genjutsu is this?"

"GAI!" Hikaru roared at the top of his voice, "DROP THE GENJUTSU THIS SECOND OR I'M DOING TO SHAVE OFF ALL YOUR HAIR WHILE YOU SLEEP AND DYE ALL YOUR SPANDEX NEON PINK, I AM _NOT _FUCKING KIDDING!"

The genjutsu dropped and Gai gave Hikaru a disappointed look, "That is a most unyouthful thing to say, Hikaru-san!"

Hikaru shrugged, "You're holding up the preliminaries; two of my genin haven't fought yet! Now where's Kiba?" He looked down, "Kiba?"

Kiba was lying on the floor, foaming at the mouth and twitching occasionally. Hikaru nudged him with one foot before turning and yelling down to Hayate, "You might want to get the med-nins up here and call the match in Lee's favour; I think Kiba's suffering from an overdose of youth."

Hayate nodded and raised his hand, "Shōsha, Rock Lee!"

Asuma chuckled, "I must admit, I think that's the first time somebody has ever won a fight in the Chūnin Exams without even fighting."

Hikaru grinned, "You know, if we could work out how to do that in combat then we could be an unstoppable force in the Elemental Nations."

Naruto grinned and held his arms out to Hinata, "Hinata-chan!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Hikaru roared, leaping over to where Naruto stood and hit him hard on the top of the head.

Hinata held out her own arms, "Naruto-kun!" then she gave Hikaru a puppy-dog look, causing his fist to stop dead a foot above her head.

As his hand dropped back to his side he growled, "I'm your sensei, I'm not _supposed _to be whipped by my own students!"

The board had cycled while they were talking, so when Kurenai suddenly tugged on Hikaru's sleeve he was momentarily surprised to see Gaara and Misumi Tsurugi standing in the arena. Gaara briefly raised his head to look up at Hikaru. Hikaru made a hebi seal and held it up so that Gaara could see it.

Gaara nodded once and returned to gazing impassively at Misumi.

Misumi made the first move after Hayate started the fight, moving behind Gaara and attempting to wrap his body around the redheaded genin. It didn't work; Gaara's sand shield appeared, wrapping around Misumi and drowning him in sand.

Hikaru watched impassively as Gaara extracted his sand from Misumi's various orifices and picked up the body with the sand, "Where shall I put this?"

Hayate simply stared at the boy for a long moment before he said, "Just… just place it in one of the rooms off the main hall."

Gaara nodded and wandered off to the doors. After he had returned, the board cycled again.

**Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze**

**Vs.**

**Shino Aburame**

"Hell yeah!" Naruto yelled as he kissed Hinata for luck and hurdled the railing, landing on the ground and scampering over to where Hayate was standing.

Shino moved down to where Hayate stood and waited.

Hayate raised his hand, "Hajime!"

Shino's bugs swarmed from his sleeves, flying at Naruto and latching onto his body. Naruto just looked down, "This should faze me but for some reason it just doesn't."

He cracked his knuckles, "Care for a spar, Shino?"

Shino pushed his glasses up, "Alright then." He dropped into a taijutsu stance. Naruto, still covered in vast amounts of beetles, dropped into his own stance.

Naruto threw the first blow, pivoting sharply on his rear right foot and swinging his left foot up in a spinning kick. Shino blocked with his left forearm and threw a counter-punch with his right fist.

Naruto was able to pull back around and block the strike with his elbow before swinging his other fist around at Shino's head. Shino ducked and threw a crippling snap kick at Naruto's knee. Naruto stepped backwards before leaping into the air and bringing down an axe kick.

-WJGW-

Hikaru grinned, "Ahhh, I love that move. I call it "Plunging Heel". The move increases in lethality when chakra is channelled through the leg used to perform the move."

Gai scratched his chin, "Interesting. Did you create that style yourself?"

Hikaru nodded, "Yes, a few years before I came to Konoha. It relies on the ability to be very unpredictable, and having the imagination to improvise on the fly. It isn't really a set style, one time you might use a snap kick followed by a left jab to the eye but the next time you use a flying kick followed by an elbow to the sternum. It's a difficult style to get down but Naruto's very good at it. I call it the Ransūken, or Random Fist."

Gai frowned, "Would you and Naruto-kun consent to another taijutsu match between us?"

Hikaru smiled, "Of course, after the Chūnin Exams. Until the finals I'll be running these three into the ground as hard as I can."

Kurenai smiled, "That is assuming that Naruto wins against Shino and Sasuke wins against his opponent."

Hikaru grinned, "You just wait and see. This battle is almost as good as over."

-WJGW-

Shino was becoming steadily more perturbed by the second. After he had dodged Naruto's axe kick (and being relieved he had when it cratered the floor where he had been standing) his hive had started to depart from Naruto's body, glutted with chakra. The blond male hadn't even seemed to notice.

Naruto had indeed not noticed. Sure he had noticed the beetles coming off his body and returning to Shino, but he just assumed that Shino had instructed them to return to him. As he threw a high kick at Shino's head and followed it up with a low sweep that almost took the bug-user's legs from beneath him but was evaded by a timely jump, he began planning for what Hikaru had nicknamed a "finisher".

Shino was highly surprised when Naruto suddenly ducked his next attack and kicked him between the legs. The second he doubled over in pain Naruto turned away from him, crouched and grabbed hold of his neck, bringing Shino's head close against his shoulder.

-WJGW-

Hikaru's grin widened; he knew exactly what Naruto was about to do.

-WJGW-

Before Shino could do anything but blink, Naruto suddenly kicked his legs out from under him and crashed into a sitting position on the floor. The impact reverberated through Naruto's body and hit Shino full on. His face powered into Naruto's shoulder with the kinetic motion, instantly knocking him unconscious. Naruto let go of him and allowed the unconscious Aburame to slide off his shoulder onto the floor.

**(A/N: Most wrestling fans will recognize this move. The first person to correctly identify it will be awarded a cookie. Ace6151 is ineligible to win the cookie because he originally gave me the idea for the finishing move, and provided me with YouTube videos for numerous finishers so that I could take my pick.)**

Hayate poked Shino with a stick, getting no response from him, so he raised a hand and said, "Shōsha, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!"

The medic-nins carried Shino off as Naruto returned to his team on the balcony. "Nice work, kid!" said Hikaru, ruffling his younger self's hair.

Naruto grinned, turning to Sasuke, "Now win your match, or Kami help you you'll never hear the end of it!"

Sasuke smirked, looking up at the board which now read:

**Sasuke Uchiha**

**Vs.**

**Chōji Akimichi**

"Got it."

-WJGW-

Sasuke took up a position in front of Hayate and unsealed his sansetsukon, settling into a taijutsu stance. Further along the balcony Tenten automatically began analyzing him, "Hmm, his stance is a little wider than usual for that weapon, but that only helps lower his centre of gravity so that it's harder to knock him over. Bent knees also contributes to that, and holding his weapon in both hands like that is also wise because it means that he can easily release it into its separate components with haste. You've taught him well, Namikaze-sensei."

Hikaru grinned, "Thanks. It's nice to be complimented on my weapons teachings by a weapons mistress." Tenten smiled, acknowledging the praise as she concentrated on the arena.

-WJGW-

Chōji began the fight by enlarging his hand and throwing an open-handed slap at Sasuke, who leapt backwards and began to spin the sansetsukon through an ornate dervish of movements.

"Hmm," pondered Tenten, again analyzing Sasuke's performance, "He's learnt to use that very well. But…" There was a faint gasp of pain from below as one of the blades nicked the outside of Sasuke's leg, causing a reddish stain to begin spreading around his black legwarmer, "…he still has a lot to learn. If you are agreeable, I could ask my tou-san if he'd be willing to give a few pointers after the Chūnin Exams?"

Hikaru smiled, "Thank you, that'd be very nice."

-WJGW-

Sasuke cursed as he shifted his leg slightly and winced at the pain. After a second he quickly analyzed his injury. _"Let's see, it hurts even to tense my leg so I would assume I nicked the muscle there. Gotta do this without moving if possible." _He flicked his wrist, returning his sansetsukon to its seal before grinning at Chōji, "Sorry man, but I'm going to have to cut this short."

Chōji grinned, "You're wounded. I would have the advantage if I wanted it. As it is, you're a better option to get into the finals than I am, so… proctor, I forfeit!"

Sasuke blinked, "What? But, you can't…!"

Chōji grinned, "It's ok, as I said you're a better choice to compete in the finals than I am."

Hayate nodded and raised his hand, "Shōsha, Sasuke Uchiha!"

Chōji helped Sasuke limp over to the medic-nins, who quickly healed him and sent him back up to the stands. Hayate glanced towards the board before saying, "Shikamaru Nara, as the only contestant without an available opponent, will be given a bye straight to the finals."

Shikamaru tutted, "How troublesome."

Hayate coughed wetly before saying, "Will all the victors of their matches please come down into the arena?"

The assortment of genin who had won their matches walked downstairs. Once they were lined up in front of Hayate, he produced a small square box with a number of small pieces of wood in it. "Each of you will take one piece from this container. The numbers on the pieces will decide who you fight in the third phase."

Once all of them had nodded he extended the box to Hinata, who stood at the left end of the line with Naruto on her right. She took a piece, and he moved on to the blond male.

Once everyone had taken a piece of wood he said, "Now read out your numbers."

Hinata started, "Three."

Naruto, "One."

Sasuke, "Seven."

Lee, "Four."

Tenten, "Two."

Shikamaru, "Five."

Gaara, "Nine."

Kankurō, "Six."

And finally Temari, "Eight."

Hayate nodded before gesturing towards the screen above. It now read:

**Match 1: Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze vs. Tenten Takeshi**

**Match 2: Hinata Hyūga vs. Rock Lee**

**Match 3: Shikamaru Nara vs. Sabaku no Kankurō**

**Match 4: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Sabaku no Temari**

**Match 5: Winner of Match 4 vs. Sabaku no Gaara**

**Match 6: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2**

**Match 7: Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 5**

**Match 8: Winner of Match 6 vs. Winner of Match 7**

"YOSH!" bellowed Lee in a voice that deafened Tenten and Shikamaru, who stood on either side of him, "It looks as though I will be testing my flames of youth against the youthful cousin of my unyouthful teammate! I look forward to testing my youth against you, Hyūga-san!"

Hikaru growled, "Don't inflict your youthfulness on my genin or my threat from earlier still applies, am I clear?"

The pair ignored him, so Hikaru made an irritable huffing noise and returned his attention to Hayate, who coughed and continued with what he was saying, "The third phase will take place a month from now, to allow all the many nobles, daimyos, etc that will be attending the third phase time to arrive in Konoha and get settled in before the tournament. Each of you will use the month to train yourselves for your matches in the third phase. You are dismissed, chūnin will guide you out…" he was cut off as there was a flash of yellow light and the four members of Team Hikaru vanished, "…of the forest."

-WJGW-

Hikaru grinned as he and his genin landed in the dining room of the Namikaze house, "Damn, I _love_ that jutsu. Now, all of you sit down."

Once all three were seated Hikaru grinned, "Now, I have already made arrangements for your training this month. I will be out of the village on several errands, but I will leave Kage Bunshin to tutor each of you. You'll also all have other tutors. Naruto, you'll be working with an old friend of mine that I will be finding and beating until he consents to help you for this month. Hinata, you will be working with your father on your Jyūken. Sasuke, you were originally supposed to be having one tutor as well but thanks to the events in the forest, I ended up having to get you another on short notice. First, you'll be having a jōnin by the name of Kakashi Hatake, also known as the Copy-Ninja. He's famous because of a certain asset he keeps behind his headband; an implanted and fully-developed Sharingan, and he will be working on helping you develop your Sharingan."

Sasuke grinned, "Brilliant. Who's the other one?"

Hikaru beamed, "You know that lovely little female I turned up at the start of the second exam with? Anko Mitarashi?"

Sasuke frowned, "Yes… what about her?"

Hikaru smirked, "Back when she was a kid, Anko was the apprentice of the man who attacked you three in the Forest. After a while he marked her with a mark like that that one that Naruto ended up with on his arm before Kyūbi broke it and abandoned her. She's hated him ever since; the mark was a blight on her soul until I destroyed it. He did allow her to sign the snake contract however, which means she is the ideal person to teach you to use what you inadvertently obtained from Orochimaru: the Hebi taijutsu style, your summons… which from your report you seem to have already established a rather friendly rapport with. What you should also know is that usually when it comes to summons, the summoner will usually have one particular snake that they are especially friendly with, their familiar if you will. It'll usually be the first one you actually ever summon."

Sasuke nodded, "I did summon a small snake before Manda made an appearance, but I didn't get his name." Almost as the last word dropped from his lips he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Hikaru smirked, "Damn, I'm good."

Hinata blinked, "Where'd he go?"

Hikaru grinned, "The thing is, summoning contracts like the toads, snakes, etc work both ways. You can summon them, and they can summon you. I would hazard a fair guess that our little Uchiha boy just got reverse summoned."

-WJGW-

Hikaru would never know exactly how true his words were. Sasuke had found himself standing on top of a sand dune between a towering cliff-face and a deep ocean. "Wha… where the hell am I?"

"**You are on the Hebiyama, the Serpent Mountain," **said a muffled voice from out of the sand below his feet, **"And to be totally specific, you're standing on my exit from my den. Now shift your feet before I chew them off from below."**

Sasuke jumped sideways and overbalanced on the smooth side of the dune, toppling over and rolling down to the sand below. A few seconds later there was a soft sound as a snake emerged from the dune where he had been standing and slithered down to him, moving in a rather unique sideways movement. Finally it reached him and raised its head to look down at him, **"So you're the new summoner Manda-sama and Kurotama-hime were talking about, then? You don't look a bit like I expected."**

Sasuke pulled himself upright and bent over to empty sand out of his shirt, "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."

The snake gave a grin which looked somewhat less friendly than it should have done considering that two fangs each about two inches long were exposed by the movement, **"Considering our last summoner? Compliment."**

Sasuke nodded, straightening and shaking sand out of one of his gloves, "So what am I doing here?"

"**You were summoned," **said a rumbling voice behind him, **"Because you are our new summoner and must take our mark."**

Sasuke turned around to see Manda approaching him. Beyond, he could see the mighty snake boss's tail sliding slowly out of a dark cave at ground level. He swallowed, "Mark?"

Manda nodded, **"Indeed. My daughter Kurotama tells me you would make an excellent new Snake Sennin."**

Sasuke frowned, "Kurotama? But I've only met one snake before you…"

"…**That would be me," **said a voice, and Sasuke looked down to see the small black snake he had summoned in the Forest of Death curled up beside his feet. It grinned up at him in exactly the same fashion that the sidewinder had done a few minutes before, **"Thanks for looking after him until me and tou-san arrived, Dokusuna-san. You can go now."**

The sidewinder nodded its head once, **"Very well then, Kurotama-hime. It was my honour. Now I'm going back to sleep. It was nice to meet you, new summoner." **It slithered off and burrowed back into the dune.

Sasuke swallowed, "So, you mentioned some kind of mark?"

Manda nodded, **"Yes. You see unlike the toads and slugs, which are content with a little blood from their summoners for their summonings, we of the snakes insist on a little more. If you are serious about becoming our summoner, you will carry our mark. If you consent to take our mark, you will have the full backing of the snakes for the rest of your life, until you hand down the scroll to your children."**

Sasuke swallowed, "Didn't… didn't Orochimaru take your mark?"

Kurotama, who had by this point slithered up Sasuke's body to his shoulder and draped herself around his neck, stuck her tongue out, **"Nope. He opted for our clause that a prospective summoner can choose to do battle with tou-san to win our respect."**

Sasuke stared, "That paedophile kicked your ass?"

Manda gave an irritable hiss, **"He had a can of pepper spray in his pocket and got me in the face with it so I couldn't see or taste anything well enough to find him. None of the snakes had any respect for him because he pulled that off, ever."**

Sasuke winced, "Ouch. So, when do I take this mark?"

Manda gazed down at him, **"Right now. Follow me."**

Sasuke nodded, but then a thought crossed his mind, "My team will get worried…"

Manda grinned, exposing his three-metre-long fangs, **"Already taken care of. Kurotama?"**

Kurotama nodded once, **"See ya later, Sasuke-nii." **The snake vanished in a small puff of smoke.

-WJGW-

Back in the Namikaze house, Hikaru jumped as a puff of smoke appeared on the table and a black snake appeared, **"Greetings, I am Kurotama, the princess of the snakes and daughter of Manda."**

Hikaru leaned forwards, "Where is my genin? Where is Sasuke?"

The small snake nodded to him, **"That's why I'm here. He is currently undergoing a rite of initiation with my people. Once it is concluded, he will be returned to you."**

Hikaru nodded, sitting down in a chair as Naruto and Hinata entered from Naruto showing Hinata where everything was in their home. "I would like to ask one quick question; I know for a fact that traditionally, summoners have one particular summons they have a special relationship with. Who will Sasuke's be?"

Kurotama nodded, **"I understand your question. As I was the first to be summoned by Sasuke-nii, I will most likely be his familiar. I can also say with complete confidence that Sasuke-nii has my tou-san's favour and respect, which our previous summoner never had. We have heard stories of the Uchiha; now they will be famous for having the snakes' favour as well."**

Hikaru nodded, satisfied with the explanation, "Alright. However I do want to know how long until I can get my genin back?"

Kurotama inspected the clock on the wall, **"Only a little while. The ceremony should only last about thirty minutes."**

Kurotama's prediction was fully correct. Half an hour later she suddenly bit her tail and wiped some blood on the table, causing a large puff of smoke. A moment later, it cleared to show Sasuke sitting on the table and rubbing his forearms.

"You alright there, Sasuke?" Hikaru asked.

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." He rolled up his sleeves, revealing sinuous tattooed snakes wrapping around his arms, inked into the flesh. Kurotama raised her head and straightened up somewhat, **"There you go. You are now officially the new Snake Sage. And as summoning tradition dictates, I was the first member of my people that you summoned, so I am therefore to be your personal familiar."**

Sasuke nodded before holding out a hand and laying it flat on the table so that Kurotama could crawl up his arm, whereupon she curled around his upper arm and rested her head upon his shoulder.

"So then, sensei…" Sasuke said, flexing his hand as he withdrew it and slipped it into his pocket, "What'll we be doing this month?"

Hikaru rubbed his hands together and gave a terrible grin, "During this month I intend to work you three to the bone. By the time the third phase comes around; you, Hinata and Naruto are going to hate my guts."

An evil cackle issued from the older blond's lips, "Let's begin."

-WJGW-

Hikaru's own prediction proved itself to be ever so true; the three genin quickly proved that they utterly hated him after their training began. Hikaru ran them into the ground time and again.

Sasuke had started working on collaborations with Kurotama, who had begun teaching him various snake jutsu with Anko's help. He had also been training with his sansetsukon.

Hinata had been practicing her Jyūken and trying to improve on the capabilities of her Byakugan. She also worked with her sais and was now capable of fighting her father and many of the other Main House Hyūga on even grounds seeing as Hikaru had also impressed on her the fact that honour held no meaning for ninja. That meant that crotch strikes and low blows were perfect weapons for ninja. Oftentimes during these spars, it was common for the Branch Hyūga to turn out en masse to watch Hinata taking on numerous Main House Hyūga and sending them whimpering for the hills.

Naruto had been having the most interesting time. Hikaru had taken him along to the hot springs on the edge of town, where they came across a man with very long white hair who was peeking through a hole in the fence and giggling.

Hikaru had gestured for Naruto to stand very far back while he walked forwards and yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU FILTHY PERVERT?" before shunshining out of range.

One feminine-fury-empowered beating later, Hikaru and Naruto approached the battered pervert to find him lying seemingly half-dead on the ground. "What…" groaned the pervert, rolling over to reveal a face almost unrecognizable due to the large amount of bruising, "…was that for?"

Hikaru bent over and grinned, "I see the years haven't changed you as much as they should have done."

The man frowned, "I don't think I know you…" He looked up and his blackened eyes widened in shock.

Hikaru smiled, "Yes, my cousin told me a great amount about his perverted sensei. I'm honoured to meet you, Jiraiya of the Sannin. I'm Hikaru Namikaze, cousin to Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage and the Yellow Flash of Konoha."

Jiraiya straightened up, "Minato never mentioned you."

Hikaru gave him a blithe smile, "You never asked, did you?"

Jiraiya sighed, "I guess I didn't. Now who's the gaki?"

Hikaru drew Naruto close and ruffled his hair, "This is my second cousin, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze… and my dear cousin's sprog."

Jiraiya frowned, "He's Minato's…"

Hikaru grinned, "Yep. He's my cousin's kid. Which means that unless you want Kushi-chan to kick your ass when you die, it's your job to do right by her and Minato and train Naruto."

Jiraiya snorted, "I have better things to do. Research to do, information on Konoha's enemies to gather and spies to meet." He walked away.

"_Alright then, evidently this is going to be like Kakashi. Time to bring out my trump card."_

Hikaru raised his voice, "Oh, so you'll just spit on your most precious student's memory, just like that? I expected more from you, Jiraiya. Ever so much more." He slashed one hand towards the ground, "Would the toad sages want you to spit on his memory like that?"

Jiraiya went totally rigid and slowly turned to face the two blonds. An uncharacteristic snarl was on his face, "Watch what you say boy. I am too far out of your league for you to even think about challenging me."

Hikaru grinned, closing his eyes for the briefest second before opening them again. Jiraiya froze, seeing gold irises and bar pupils. _"Impossible! He's using Sage Mode to a level I'm not capable of… that nobody has ever achieved before!"_

Hikaru smirked, "Still think you're on a level above me? I have all of Minato's skill with both the Hiraishin and the Rasengan, the latter of which I have even completed. I have fully mastered Sage Mode. The only drawback I am currently suffering is that most of my current techniques are far more destructive than I'm given credit for. We could put it to a trial by combat; if I win you train Naruto and if you win I train him alone, but since I don't have the time for that at all I just want to say; allow us both to sign the Toad Contract and I will trouble you no more. I have my own work to do during this month before the third phase, not least of which is I have to set up enough sealing arrays to repel a small-scale invasion, keep an eye out for Orochimaru's tricks and transport the Yondaime Kazekage here using my cousin's jutsu."

Jiraiya frowned, "You can both sign the Toad contract, but then I'm going to leave a Kage Bunshin here with your student to teach him to summon while I have a word with you and my sensei. There are some questions I desperately need answered." He flashed through seals and dropped to one knee, pressing his hand against the floor.

A scroll was quickly produced, Hikaru's and Naruto's signatures were placed within, and it was returned to the toad who carried it. Finally, Jiraiya and Hikaru each created a shadow clone before running from the area to talk to the Hokage.

-WJGW-

Back in town, another conversation was talking place. Anko, Yūgao and Kurenai were all sitting in Yūgao's sitting room.

The purple-haired ANBU dropped heavily into her chair as Anko said, "So, why did you need us here, Yū-chan?"

Yūgao leaned forwards, "I needed you here because there's something I need to tell the both of you about Hikaru-kun."

Kurenai leaned forwards, "What? What about Hikaru-kun?"

Yūgao took a breath, "Hikaru-kun isn't actually who we believe he is. He's actually…" she took another breath to steady herself, "He's actually from the future. He ended up back here thanks to some kind of jutsu."

There was a pause and then Anko burst out laughing, "Haa, good one Yū-chan. I didn't really take you for the jokey type though."

Yūgao gave her a long look, "I am not joking, Anko-chan. How do you think he knew about your Curse Mark?"

Anko reflexively clamped a hand over her shoulder where the Mark used to be, "He saw it. That's what he said; my trench coat fell open and he saw it through the mesh!"

Yūgao frowned, "You woke up lying on your back; you told me that. In that position he'd have never seen it unless he knew it was there."

Anko frowned. Her friend was actually right, but she still had her misgivings, "He might have heard about it from the Hokage…"

Yūgao shook her head, "I've been on guard in his office ever since Hikaru-kun made his first appearance; never once have they discussed you since the first time you fought him. On that occasion, he simply said your name, as well as those of Kakashi, Gai, Asuma and Nai-chan. Not once did he mention your mark."

Kurenai frowned, "He said that his cousin had been sending him letters about his life in Konoha though."

Yūgao stared at her, "Why would he specifically write about Anko-chan's Cursed Seal in a letter?"

Kurenai blushed, "I don't know. I just made the suggestion."

Yūgao pushed herself upright in her chair before standing and leaning on the crutch she had been provided with, "You might not believe me, but ask the Hokage, ask my fellow ANBU who helps protect the Hokage; they can both verify his origins."

Anko frowned, "I'd prefer to ask him about this myself."

Yūgao nodded, "He thought you might want to ask this for yourself; I was the one who originally asked if I could tell you since I do not like lying to my friends."

Kurenai smiled, "Thank you, Yū-chan. Very thoughtful of you. Now, shall we discuss our plans for the month?"

-WJGW-

**Three weeks before the third phase.**

Hikaru dropped into a clearing and took a deep breath. He had been travelling north, trying to track down Tsunade Senju. Unfortunately he had no idea where she was, since he only knew where she would be after the invasion.

Straightening up, he suddenly became aware of chakra signatures around him. After a brief pause he drew his katana and said, "I know you're there. There isn't any point in hiding any longer."

Two dozen figures appeared from the trees and bushes, each wearing nondescript ANBU gear and a completely white mask. Hikaru settled into a ready stance, "Am I to understand then, that Danzō has sent you all to dispose of me?"

One of them stepped forwards, "That is correct. We will follow Danzō-sama's orders even if it costs us our lives."

Hikaru raised his katana, "Thus will your lives this mission cost, for I will not fall here and not to any of you."

Twenty-four tantō knives slid from their sheaths as the ROOT settled into ready stances. Hikaru drew a Hiraishin kunai into his other hand, a barely-visible bending of the light for about two feet above the middle point of the weapon showing that a blade of wind chakra was extending from it. Raising the hand holding the kunai, he crooked his index finger, "Bring it."

As one, the ROOT shinobi charged.

-WJGW-

Tsunade Senju was a woman known for being a member of the Legendary Sannin, as well as the Slug Princess and "Legendary Sucker", even if now she was only known as an alcoholic gambler. Despite these years of running from her own issues however, her skills had not suffered as much of a decline as most believed them to.

Even so, when she heard Shizune gasp and saw the buildings around her be lit up by a flash of yellow light, her first instinct was that she was dreaming. When she turned around and saw a tall male in a white coat with flame-like patterns along the base, his blond hair swaying gently in the breeze and cerulean eyes sparkling with mirth, her assumption that she was dreaming was almost reaffirmed.

"Y-Yondaime-sama!" stammered Shizune, a blush crossing her face.

Tsunade looked closer, only now noticing the slight differences in this person's face. This person had odd whisker-like marks on his cheeks and his features were more rounded than the Yondaime Hokage. She straightened up and hissed, "Imposter!"

The man sighed, "I really wish people would stop mistaking me for my cousin; it's very annoying."

"Wait…" muttered Shizune, "…Cousin?"

The man smiled and bowed, "It's nice to meet you, Tsunade-sama, Shizune-sama. I am Hikaru Namikaze, cousin of Minato Namikaze and here on behalf of the Sandaime Kazekage."

Tsunade looked puzzled, "Kazekage?"

Hikaru shook his head, "Dammit, I'm getting confused. I meant Hokage."

Tsunade frowned, "I'm not interested in whatever you have to say. I'm done with Konoha; it's a hellhole filled with bad memories." She turned and walked away.

In one movement, Hikaru moved in front of her, "So that's it then? You lost two people you loved and suddenly nobody understands your pain, is that right?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed; "Don't think you know anything about me."

Hikaru folded his arms, "You want to know pain? Try living my cousin's life! He was hated by the entire village before I turned up. Hell, the night I arrived one of his teachers in the Academy tried to kill him." He smirked, "But that's alright isn't it? After all it isn't like he hasn't ever had anybody in his life before me."

Shizune had covered her mouth, but Tsunade still looked mulish. Hikaru sighed, _"Evidently trying to pluck her heartstrings didn't work. Guess I'll have to make a bet with her then."_

He smirked, "Tell you what, Tsunade-sama. Let's have a bet. If I win, you return to Konoha. If you win, I give you all of my money and return to Konoha, whereupon I will ask the Hokage to cease sending people to find you."

Tsunade blinked once as Shizune groaned inwardly. She knew that this Namikaze had her sensei on a hook and was reeling her in. "What's the bet then?"

Hikaru's smirk widened, "I bet that you can't drink me under the table."

Tsunade's eyes widened, "You really think you're a better drinker than me, brat? I was drinking before you were born!"

Hikaru smirked, "I'm known for having a titanium liver. Bring it, _baa-chan_."

Shizune's hands flew to cover her mouth in horror. If there was one thing that must never be done when dealing with Tsunade Senju, it was commenting on her age.

Tsunade gave a hiss of rage before turning, "Very well. Come with me!"

-WJGW-

They entered a bar and sat down. Tsunade yelled, "Bartender! Bring your strongest sake, I intend on winning this contest quickly!"

The word "contest" seemed to draw everyone's attention as people gathered around. The bartender approached and set down two saucers and a large bottle of sake.

Hikaru grinned, "If you want to surrender now…"

Tsunade scowled, "Never!"

Hikaru picked up the bottle, only for it to be plucked from his hand by the bartender, who explained, "Here in Otafuku-Gai, drinking contests are an officially recognized form of settling disputes. By the rules neither contestant is allowed to handle the bottle in case they might find a way to sabotage it without sabotaging themselves."

Hikaru nodded and held up the saucer, "Then I'll take first drink."

The bartender poured some sake into the saucer and Hikaru raised the saucer, looking directly into Tsunade's eyes, "To your health, Tsunade-sama," and drained it in one swig.

-WJGW-

Two hours later, Tsunade was barely able to sit upright while Hikaru was sitting in his chair with a benign smile on his face, about ten empty sake bottles littering the table in front of him. Most of the people watching their contest were staring at him in shock, unable to believe that he had just drunk enough alcohol to kill any normal person without being reduced to a cadaver (albeit one that needn't be embalmed).

"So," said Hikaru, leaning forwards and giving Tsunade a happy smile, "Surrender yet?"

Tsunade raised her head and gave him a shaky grin, "No! How… how can you be doing this?"

Hikaru laughed, "Lady, I've been kicking ass in drinking contests for years. There's nothing you can do that I cannot do better. Now, by the rules I've just been availed of while I was drinking you under the table, you've lost the contest."

The bartender spoke up, "Technically she hasn't lost until she…" there was a thud behind him as Tsunade fell sideways in her seat and went limp, "…passes out. Never mind."

Hikaru stood up and took a court bow before turning to Shizune, "Would you like me to help carry Tsunade-sama back to her room, Shizu-chan?"

Shizune blushed at the epithet before saying, "Thank you, I need to pick up all our belongings if we are about to return to Konoha."

Hikaru bent down and lifted Tsunade into his arms. She was surprisingly light.

Following Shizune, he left the bar, leaving money for the sake they had drunk on the table and carrying Tsunade in his arms.

-WJGW-

Tsunade woke up the next morning with a hangover that felt like somebody had been driving six-inch nails through her head with a hammer. Raising her head and wincing as she did, she saw Shizune bending over her holding a hangover cure.

Taking it and swallowing the contents, she grimaced at the taste before looking up at her apprentice, "What happened last night?"

Shizune frowned, "You lost the bet. I have already packed all our things and was waiting for you to wake before we made a move."

Tsunade frowned, "Where is he?"

Shizune looked towards the door, "Waiting outside. He arrived half an hour ago. You need to shower, dress and otherwise be ready to move in about fifteen minutes."

Tsunade frowned and stood up quietly. Shizune hovered around her, waiting to catch her should she show any sign of having an impaired ability to move in a straight line.

Moving slowly so as not to aggravate her headache; the blonde Sannin moved into the bathroom and began to have her shower.

-WJGW-

As soon as Tsunade had showered and changed, she and Shizune met Hikaru outside the hotel where the two women had been staying. Hikaru created a Kage Bunshin and directed Tsunade to climb onto his back while Shizune climbed on the clone's.

Tsunade predictably called him on it, so he explained that to use his Hiraishin effectively he needed to be able to use both hands so he couldn't carry them bridal-style.

Before the woman could shout at him about it any further, he shut her down with one simple sentence, "Alright then, would you prefer to be carried over my shoulder or under my arm?"

Tsunade shut her mouth and climbed onto Hikaru's back. The two identical shinobi crouched slightly before hurling their Hiraishin kunai as far as they could before vanishing.

-WJGW-

**Two days later.**

Tsunade stretched as she stood on the balcony of her room at the front of the Namikaze estate that Hikaru had had set up for her. It had a beautiful view across the village towards the Hokage Monument, which glowed a thick golden hue as the last rays of the sun played over its carven faces.

A sound off to her right drew her attention, and she saw Hikaru Namikaze leaning on the fence looking up at the sky, which was just starting to show stars as the sun sank towards the horizon. He looked oddly pensive as he glanced over to her and said, "This is one of the things I love most about this house. In the mornings and evenings I like to sit here and watch the stars come out in the company of the moon, or the sun rising and bringing a new day."

Tsunade frowned, "You strike me as more a down-to-earth shinobi, not one who sits and watches tiny lights in the sky."

Hikaru laughed, "Even the most down-to-earth shinobi must look skywards at some point. It is the only way to proceed, watching the sky and knowing the only way to go is up."

Tsunade nodded as she leaned backwards herself to see the sky, "So? You mentioned something about an invasion?"

Hikaru nodded and turned to face her directly, "On the day of the Chūnin Exam Finals, Orochimaru intends to lead a force of missing-ninja under the guise of "The Village Hidden in the Sound" into Konoha and raze it to the ground."

Tsunade frowned, "I understand. So what are we doing to stop him?"

Hikaru grinned, "I intend to spring a trap on him. I got to Suna before he did, thinking he could turn our allies against us. I gave them an ultimatum; stick with Konoha and aid us in repelling the invasion, after which we would try to avert some of the problems that have beset Suna lately; or join forces with Orochimaru, and experience the wrath of the Yellow Flash for themselves. They wisely chose the former option, so now we have the Kazekage's backing. There is also the fact that I repaired the seal on his son Gaara, the jinchūriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku. He was very grateful to me when I did that."

Tsunade nodded, "So what's my part in this invasion then? I'm not inclined to believe you wanted me back in the village just because Sarutobi-sensei wanted me here."

Hikaru smiled, "Our med-nins will have enough trouble during the invasion getting injured shinobi to the hospital without having to worry about healing them. If we have you and Shizune in the hospital in combination with our most skilled medic-nin besides you two and a large number of soldier pills, we should be able to keep up with people coming in."

Tsunade nodded, seeing the wisdom in this plan, "What will you be doing?"

Hikaru smirked, "We have reason to believe that Orochimaru intends to perform some form of forbidden jutsu to destroy Konoha. I along with the Hokage and Kazekage will be taking him on in an attempt to stop him using said jutsu."

Tsunade frowned, "Pardon me, but I have my suspicions about you Namikaze-san. Minato-san never mentioned you to me, and neither did his wife. There's also the fact that you have the same markings on your cheeks as his son, and your appearance is far too close to Minato's own for you to be a cousin, since his son's appearance I can understand. I get the feeling that there is something you have not told either me or Shizune, and I am not letting you go until you tell me exactly what that thing is."

Hikaru laughed, "Exactly the attitude I remember!"

Before Tsunade could ask him what he meant he turned to walk back into the room, "Come downstairs and bring Shizune. There's something I need to talk to the pair of you about and at first, it might be hard to believe."

-WJGW-

**Eleven days before the third phase.**

Offence. Defence. Tactics. Poise. These were the words that swirled around Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze's head as he spun through a ferocious spar with his sensei, their separate uses of the Ransūken simultaneously clashing and choreographed.

Hikaru grinned as he spun on his rear foot and threw out his other leg in a swing that would have hit Naruto in the side of the head had he not blocked with his forearm. As soon as his kick was halted Hikaru switched feet, his rear foot rising to strike at Naruto's abdomen even as his other foot dropped to support his weight on the floor.

Naruto leapt backwards to avoid the kick to the sternum, allowing his sensei to press his advantage. Hikaru spun back to a standing position and attacked head-on, driving a barrage of attacks towards Naruto who blocked or dodged them as best he could.

It was to the sight of this scene that Sasuke and Hinata re-entered the clearing, accompanied by the Kage Bunshin that Hikaru had made after seeing that it was Naruto's turn on their daily rota to be taught by him. The two Kage Bunshin exchanged a glance before dispelling, causing a slight deviation in Hikaru's attacks which Naruto took full advantage of as soon as he saw it. So intent was he on regaining the advantage, he didn't notice Hikaru's fist approaching from the right-hand side until it slammed into the blind spot just above his right ear, momentarily stunning him and giving Hikaru the opportunity he needed to sweep the boy's legs from under him and bodyslam him on the ground.

"You did well today, Naruto," said Hikaru as he dragged the smaller blond back to his feet, "But you still need to work a little. You did excellently in taking advantage of the distraction caused by my Kage Bunshin dispelling, but after I recovered you had already concentrated too hard on trying to take me down and thus did not notice my final attack coming from the side. Constant vigilance, remember?"

Naruto nodded and spat a little bit of blood onto the floor.

"So," said Hikaru, once Naruto had indicated that the tooth Hikaru had broken earlier with a savage spinning kick had repaired itself thanks to Kyūbi, "What did you two learn today?" He had of course received the memories from the clones, but preferred to hear it from the horse's mouth.

Sasuke smirked, producing his sansetsukon and spinning it around his head. There was an audible _thwack_ as one of the ends detached and hit him in the back of the head, causing everybody else to howl with laughter.

"Anyway," said Hikaru once Hinata had healed Sasuke's head wound received from the impact, "Since it's just over a week until the third phase, we can start winding down a little from our previous schedule… There's no need to look so relieved. I wasn't that hard on you."

Sasuke gave him a sardonic look, "Sensei, I don't think I've ever seen the three of us bleed as much as we have been these past three weeks at any point. Hell, I don't think I've seen anybody bleed as much as we've done over the last three weeks. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to find out you've been drilling us harder than Gai-sensei does."

Hikaru grinned, "That's because I just have to threaten you three with the sunset genjutsu to get you to work, whereas his students have become used to it."

He sat down against a tree-trunk, "Now, you three will be training exclusively with my Kage Bunshin for the next four days, since I have to leave the village again."

Hinata frowned, "Hikaru-sensei?"

Hikaru looked down at the pale-eyed girl, "Yes, Hinata?"

She bit her lip, "You seem to have been leaving the village a lot lately. Then there's all those meetings with the Hokage you keep going to, and I'm sure that my father has become somewhat secretive of late. I'm wondering if there's something you aren't telling us…"

Hikaru sighed, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you three forever. Come back to the Namikaze house, there's something important I need to share with you."

He held out an arm to the genin, who caught hold. He closed his eyes and the four of them vanished.

They landed in the dining room of the Namikaze estate and quickly sat down around the table. Hikaru cleared his throat, "Let me start by explaining an interesting little tale to you…"

-WJGW-

**The next day.**

The Kazekage and his guards were standing by the gates of Suna when a kunai shot out of the air and landed in front of them, a yellow flash heralding the arrival of Hikaru Namikaze a split second later, "Greetings, Kazekage-sama."

"Namikaze-sama," said the Kazekage, "I assume you are here to escort me to Konoha then?"

At Hikaru's nod he said, "Very well. Shall we set off?"

Hikaru nodded, creating three clones to escort the Kazekage and his guards while he drew three extra Hiraishin kunai into his hands and prepared to hurl them out of the gates.

As soon as the three clones had a firm grip on their charges, Hikaru drew back his hands and threw the kunai as hard as he could.

-WJGW-

Hikaru's suspicions about Orochimaru ambushing the Kazekage proved correct as they were approaching the border between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. A subtle burst of chakra off to one side drew his attention and he substituted with the clone carrying one of the Kazekage's guards along with its charge before drawing his katana and settling into a blocking stance. Tiny bullets made of bone pinged off the metal.

"Kukukuku, most impressive reflexes…"

Hikaru raised the katana so that his eyes were level with the blade as he glared at the two people standing nearby, one of them with his hands still raised from his jutsu, "Orochimaru and a member of the Kaguya clan. I assume you are here for the Kazekage."

Orochimaru smiled unpleasantly, "Correct."

"Then understand that my task here is to escort the Kazekage safely to Konoha. I will not allow you to harm him."

Orochimaru chuckled, "Against Kimimaro here, you may not have that option available."

Hikaru smirked, "We'll see. Boys, take the Kazekage and his guards to Konoha. I'll hold these two right here."

The clones nodded and shot off with their charges as Hikaru took his left hand off his katana and drew a Hiraishin kunai into his hand.

He smiled at Kimimaro, "I've heard of your "Dance of the Camellia" and whatnot. Care to demonstrate?"

Kimimaro frowned, stepping forwards and creating a bone sword from his forearm, "I will defeat this trash in your name, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru nodded, "You do that, Kimimaro. I will take down the Kazekage."

Hikaru chuckled, "Good luck with that. Just because they're Kage Bunshin doesn't mean they aren't as good as me!"

Orochimaru vanished.

Hikaru turned his attention back to Kimimaro, "Ready, Kaguya?"

He threw the kunai… and vanished.

-WJGW-

**Five minutes later.**

Orochimaru sprinted after the clones, desperate to get to them before they could reach Konoha. Thankfully they seemed to have stopped using the Hiraishin, though he was still hard-pressed to keep up with them even when they were just using shunshin.

Behind him he heard a deafening explosion and saw _something _fly past him and hit a tree twenty feet in front of him and off to his right. As it came back to its feet it was revealed to be Kimimaro, looking somewhat blackened and singed as he produced another sword from his forearm and went back to the way he'd come.

"_That was odd," _thought Orochimaru as he returned to the chase, _"I don't recall ever seeing such a smile on Kimimaro's face before."_

-WJGW-

**Five minutes before.**

"Tell me, Kimimaro…" said Hikaru cheerfully as he blocked Kimimaro's swipe with his own weapon, "…Why are you so fanatical about serving Orochimaru?"

Kimimaro scowled as his fifteenth attempt to strike the blond down was thwarted, "Don't believe you can understand what drives me, trash."

Hikaru frowned as he blocked another stab and took a swipe of his own which Kimimaro dodged, "Oh, ok. Because I just wanted you to know… I know you're dying of your lung disease. I know your friend Jūgo has that weird dark part of his personality which tries to kill everything in the vicinity despite his being very gentle normally. I know a lot about the both of you, and I know what I can do to deal with it."

Kimimaro stopped dead in the middle of a flurry of attacks and stared at him, "Excuse me?"

Hikaru pointed at the mark on Kimimaro's breastbone, "I can break that. Tsunade of the Sannin is in Konoha, and she can help come up with a remedy for your lung illness. Hell, I can even put a seal on Jūgo which allows him to either control or entirely suppress the dark part of his personality. All I want to know is are there any people in Orochimaru's base that you really care about?"

Kimimaro stared at him, "…What in blazes are you talking about?"

Hikaru grinned, "Well, my genin team caught a girl by the name of Kin Tsuchi in the Forest of Death, and she named you as being the _only_ male in Oto who ever treated her with any respect at all during my initial questioning of her. When I asked her if she had anybody in Oto she wanted me to get out for her, she named only three people. Two twins named Tayuya and Karin, and you."

Kimimaro blinked, "What?"

Hikaru nodded, "Kin asked that I try to get you out as well. If I have to get Jūgo out; and I will because I know that he doesn't like fighting in any way, shape or form; in order to fulfil that promise to Kin, I will do it."

Kimimaro stared at him for a long minute before his shoulders slumped slightly and he held up the sword which shrank back into his forearm. "I submit, do what you need to do."

Hikaru produced fūinjutsu supplies and began making a seal tag using the design he had initially used on Anko's own Cursed Seal. Once it was done, he slapped it on Kimimaro's body and flashed through a few seals.

Kimimaro gave a grunt of pain before Hikaru ripped off the seal tag again, revealing flawless skin no longer marred by the mark that had previously adorned it. Kimimaro cracked his neck, "Oh, that's a weight off my mind. Thanks!"

Hikaru gave an evil grin as he said, "Anyway, I think you should make a layer of bone under your skin now."

Kimimaro looked puzzled, "Why?"

Hikaru's evil grin widened as he created a Kage Bunshin and dispelled it again, "Well we still need to make it sound good, so Orochimaru suspects nothing. After we've fought a little more, double around the side to Konoha while I go to fight Orochimaru to delay him. My clones won't attack you."

Kimimaro gulped at the evil smirk and wisely created the bone layer, only for a soft hiss to draw his attention. As he looked down and saw an exploding tag burning down on his chest he muttered, "Shit."

There was an explosion, and Kimimaro caught a glimpse of Orochimaru as he was flung backwards into a tree.

Producing a sword from his forearm, he permitted himself a single grin before drawing a sword from his forearm and heading back towards Hikaru.

-WJGW-

Orochimaru was just closing with the Kage Bunshin escorting the Kazekage when there was a flash right in front of him and Hikaru Namikaze stepped out of the air and gave him an unpleasant smile, "Enjoying yourself, Roachy?"

Ignoring the epithet, Orochimaru bared his prominent canines, "You again! Where's Kimimaro?"

Hikaru drew his katana, "Right now? I'd think he's lying on the forest floor bleeding out through a slice in his neck."

Orochimaru's eyes widened, "Impossible! The Shikotsumyaku cannot be beaten by any normal shinobi!"

Hikaru spun a Hiraishin kunai around his finger before flipping it into his free hand, "Son, I'm Hikaru Namikaze… savvy?"

-WJGW-

Hikaru's Kage Bunshin were just starting to see the walls of Konoha above the trees when a figure appeared out of the trees ahead of them.

The clone on point stopped and said, "So you're the one who changed sides then?"

Kimimaro nodded, "Yes."

The clone nodded, "Alright, you will place yourself under our authority until we reach Konoha, is that clear?"

Kimimaro nodded and took up position walking in front of them as they proceeded back towards Konoha a little slower.

-WJGW-

Hikaru blocked a swing of Orochimaru's Kusanagi, leaping backwards as he raised a hand and yelled, "Fūton: Kaze no Yaiba!"

Orochimaru weaved away from the wind blade as it shot past him and bisected a tree, causing the trunk to topple onto the floor with a crash.

Hikaru's mind was working fifteen to the dozen processing the battle as they exchanged blows, _"This weapon he's using… I remember from last time it was the Kusanagi, the Grass-Cutter characteristic to the Snake Sannin. That he still has it must mean that there's something like the scroll toads of Mt. Myōboku; the creature in question dwells within the body of its contractor. I need to get that snake out… unless it can be reverse summoned back to the Hebiyama…"_

-WJGW-

Almost as if Hikaru's thoughts were prophetic, back on the Hebiyama, Manda was reviewing the attendance scrolls following the coronation of Sasuke Uchiha as the newest Snake Sage.

"**Hmm…" **he muttered, scrutinizing one particular name, **"It looks as though Hebiken is still out there… we'll need to summon him back for a debrief before sending him out to the current Snake Sage."**

Hitting his tail against the floor, he activated the reverse summoning.

-WJGW-

Orochimaru was just moving to block Hikaru's next stab when the Kusanagi suddenly vanished from his hand. Its movement thus unimpeded, Hikaru's katana sank deep into Orochimaru's shoulder.

Orochimaru cursed as he leapt backwards and pressed a hand over his shoulder. Hikaru simply flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed it, "As much as I dislike you Roachy, I'm in no mood to attack an unarmed man with a sword. Therefore I'm going to do this…"

He flashed through seals and pressed his hands to the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Two plumes of chakra smoke on his shoulders heralded the appearance of the Toad Sages. **"What… who are you?" **said Fukasaku when he saw Hikaru, **"I don't recognize you…"**

Hikaru grinned, "Nice to see you too, Geezer Toad, but right now I don't actually have the time to explain who I am or where I come from. After I kick this guy's ass, I'll explain everything alright?"

Fukasaku didn't respond, but he did mutter something like, **"When I catch up with Jiraiya-boy he's going to get it for this…" **as he placed his hands together to fuse onto Hikaru's shoulders with Shima, who cast Hikaru a curious look before doing the same herself.

Hikaru closed his eyes for a brief second before reopening them and grinning across at Orochimaru, who suppressed the urge to gulp as he saw gold irises, bar pupils and orange pigment around the eyes. It was a look which he had seen numerous times during the last war, and one that he harboured no small amount of fear of even though Jiraiya's version was incomplete. From what he had learned back when he still worked with his ex-teammates, _this _was what the complete version of Sage Mode was supposed to look like.

Hikaru chuckled, "I feel pretty good now, Roachy. Care to give it a go?"

Orochimaru swallowed, but settled into his Hebi stance as Hikaru dropped into the stance for the Frog kata and prepared to attack.

-WJGW-

The Kage Bunshin were almost within sight of the gates, so they let the Kazekage and his guards down so they could walk into the village themselves. Two of the clones escorted Kimimaro away to the T&I Division where he could be questioned about Orochimaru's resources and another clone headed off to the hospital to find Tsunade. The rest of the clones started to escort the Kazekage towards the Hokage's office.

-WJGW-

Orochimaru swore as he dodged another powerful punch from Hikaru yet still received a sharp blow to the sternum which knocked the wind out of him.

As he somersaulted away from the attack and threw some kunai in an attempt to buy some time, he saw two Kage Bunshin appear seamlessly on either side of the Namikaze as the original raised one hand above his head and formed a Rasengan.

Orochimaru's eyes widened comically as the Rasengan suddenly expanded and formed revolving blades like a shuriken, a deafening screeching howl filling the air even as Hikaru dispelled the clones and drew the huge chakra shuriken backwards, "I applaud you on making me use my ultimate jutsu, Orochimaru. Let this be the final jutsu you ever see… Fūton: Rasenshuriken!"

Orochimaru was forced to leap into the air as the Rasenshuriken flew under him and exploded in the distance, taking out a massive ring of trees.

As Orochimaru turned and began flashing through seals, he suddenly noticed that Hikaru was looking towards Konoha and not even paying attention to him.

After a second, Hikaru turned back to him and said, "Sorry, Roachy, but I'm gonna have to cut this short. The Kazekage just got to Konoha and I'm needed over there, so ta-ta for now!"

Before Orochimaru could respond, Hikaru vanished.

Orochimaru continued to stare at the spot where Hikaru had been standing for a full minute before it occurred to him that the blond had just tossed a spanner into the works of yet _another _plan. His reaction to this was thus rather understandable.

"DAMN YOU, HIKARU NAMIKAZEEEEEEEEEEE!"

-WJGW-

Hikaru dropped out of the Hiraishin next to one of his clones, who grinned and dispelled as the blond Namikaze straightened up. Fukasaku drew his attention by tweaking his ear, **"Now that we're out of there, I want an explanation!"**

Hikaru smirked and moved into another Hiraishin which dropped him in the Namikaze household's dining room. As he dropped into a chair and the toads leapt off his shoulders onto the table, Fukasaku said, **"Right, now I want my explanation."**

Hikaru leaned back in his chair, "Alright, this all started ten years ago…"

-WJGW-

**The next day.**

Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke arrived on their training ground the next day to find Hikaru sleeping under a tree. Naruto moved to poke Hikaru, with his toes, only to have his foot grabbed and twisted, sending the smaller blond crashing nose-down into the dirt.

"Nice try," grunted Hikaru as he raised his head and opened his eyes, "But you'll have to try so much harder than that to pull anything on me, Naruto-nii."

Naruto rolled over and pulled himself up as Hikaru also climbed to his feet and smirked at them, "My mission was completed without a hitch, and I shouldn't have to leave again until the Chūnin Exams officially take off. That means I still get to work you three to the bone over the next week and two days."

Their looks of dismay drew a chuckle before Hikaru waved a hand and said, "Relax, I was actually going to let you lot rest for a bit. After all what with the invasion coming up you're going to need all the power you can get."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but then a puff of smoke went up next to them and Kurotama appeared with another snake patterned with emerald green diamonds down its back, **"Hey Sasuke-nii. Got someone for you to meet here…"**

Sasuke sat down and crossed his legs, "Okay…"

Kurotama jabbed her tail at the snake by her side, **"This is Hebiken, the keeper of the Grass-Cutter, the Kusanagi."**

Hikaru interrupted, "Oh, so that's what happened during my fight with Orochimaru the other day… You guys summoned him back, didn't you?"

Kurotama bobbed her head in a passable attempt at a nod, **"Yeah, tou-san discovered that Hebiken was still with the last Snake Sage despite his lack of the contract so he summoned him back. Did we really summon him in the middle of a fight?"**

At Hikaru's nod she gave a hissing laugh, **"Serves him right! Did you hurt him badly?"**

Hikaru grinned, "A little."

Kurotama bobbed her head again, **"Anyway, as the new Snake Sage you need to have the Kusanagi, Sasuke-nii."**

Sasuke swallowed, "Right…"

Kurotama grinned, **"Don't worry, you don't have to carry it like he did since I'm sure you value your gag reflex."**

Sasuke went visibly pale as Hebiken shuddered, **"Please do not remind me of that, Kurotama-hime. I had to shed four skins before I felt clean again."**

Hikaru had to sit down and lean back against the tree because he was laughing so hard at the expression on Sasuke's face.

Kurotama continued, **"Anyway, since Hebiken keeps the Kusanagi in his stomach all he needs to do is wrap around your wrist and he can immediately place the Kusanagi into your hand."**

"Only one problem…" said Sasuke quietly, glancing over at Hikaru with a guilty look on his face, "…I can't use a sword."

Hikaru's face fell into a grim expression; he knew exactly what was eating Sasuke. After his explanation of his past and true origins, Sasuke had spent the rest of the evening on a guilt trip over the pain "he" had caused his sensei back in his sensei's own time.

Hikaru frowned, "It's ok Sasuke. You're not him and you never will be."

Kurotama looked puzzled (if that's possible for a snake), **"Sorry? Not who?"**

Thinking on his feet, Hikaru replied, "His brother. Killed their entire clan in one night; I think Sasuke's worried that he might flip out and do something similar."

Kurotama blinked up at Sasuke for a few moments before she nodded once, **"You need not use the Kusanagi if you do not wish to, but we of the Hebi tribe would like you to carry it all the same. We cannot have you being disarmed of your sansetsukon and finding yourself defenceless, can we?"**

Sasuke nodded, "I guess not, but…"

Whatever Sasuke was intending to say was drowned out by an angry shout of, "SASUKE!"

The four members of Team Hikaru and the two snakes whirled around to see Haku striding onto the training ground looking utterly livid.

"Er, Sasuke?" said Hikaru as the ice-user approached like a lioness stalking her prey, "_Did _you actually go see Haku like I asked you to during the month?"

Sasuke gulped, "No… I was so busy training I forgot…"

Hikaru grinned nervously, "Well, it's your problem then… I'll just escort Naruto and Hinata home…" He took two steps only for his feet to suddenly freeze to the ground.

Looking up, he suppressed a gulp as he saw Haku's brown eyes glittering at him with malice, "Were you working Sasuke-kun so hard he couldn't come and see me? Or did you forget to remind him to come and visit?"

Naruto and Hinata couldn't remember ever seeing their sensei quaking like a little girl, but somehow Haku managed to make him do it as Sasuke's own feet also suddenly froze to the ground.

"Hey, Hikaru-nii?" said Naruto.

"Yeah?" Hikaru responded.

"Catch you later; I'm going to go take Hinata-chan on a date."

"Traitor!" Hikaru yelled as his younger self caught hold of Hinata's arm and shunshined out of the clearing.

Haku gave an evil smile as she formed some senbon between her fingers and drew back her arm to throw.

-WJGW-

Half an hour later, Sasuke was looking down at the twitching form of his sensei, who lay on the ground riddled with ice senbon.

Haku approached and hugged his arm, "Now will you take me on a date, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke nodded, momentarily too frightened of the girl to speak, as she towed him away towards the village.

It was another fifteen minutes before Hikaru was able to summon the presence of mind to feel for the Hiraishin seal he had placed in the dining room of the Namikaze estate and activate the jutsu to carry him home.

-WJGW-

Training the next day was uneventful, though Sasuke and Naruto seemed incapable of stopping themselves smiling, and Hinata was whistling cheerfully as she ran through her Jyūken.

Hikaru seemed abnormally twitchy, and when Hinata threw a senbon past him he ran to hide behind a tree,

Finally they called it a day, and were heading back to Konoha when from behind them they heard a voice say, "That's strange, I thought the Yondaime Hokage died…"

Hikaru turned to see a series of figures a few feet behind them, and was startled to notice that he recognized a lot of them.

First was the most obvious, a towering muscle-bound man with dark skin and white hair, beard and moustache, wearing white and yellow robes with the kanji for lightning on the hat. Hikaru knew this was A, the Raikage.

He smiled and bowed, "My apologies, Raikage-sama, but you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Hikaru Namikaze, the Yondaime's cousin."

A nodded, "I see. Anyway, I am here to see the third phase of the Chūnin Exams…"

Hikaru nodded, "I see. If you will permit me, I will escort you to the Hokage's office. Your companions are…?"

A turned to his bodyguards, "My tag-team partner and brother, Killer Bee… his team comprising Samui Nii, Karui and Omoi Yotsuki, and Samui's sister Yugito."

Hikaru nodded once to Bee, smiled at the trio standing behind Bee, and finally locked eyes with Yugito.

As he stared into the dark slanted eyes, a memory rose to the forefront of his mind…

_Flashback Start!_

_Naruto rolled out of the way of a plume of fire from the female jinchūriki he was fighting and flung a kunai at her, which she dodged._

_As she turned to attack again Naruto kicked off the ground and slammed both his feet into her sternum, knocking her on her back. Before she could move to get up he pounced on her and pinned her hands down on either side of her head, "Let's get rid of that tag, lady…"_

_He created a sealless clone, which made a Rasengan and slammed it into the jinchūriki's head. The control seal destroyed, her head reformed and she blinked up at him, "Why are you lying on top of me?"_

_Her voice was musical, with a faint purr to it that drew Naruto's attention easily._

"_Kabuto," muttered Naruto, "resurrected you and put a control seal on you which made you want to follow his orders. The reason I'm sitting on you is to stop you frying me with one of those fire jutsu before I could destroy the control seal in your head."_

_The girl nodded, "Right… can you let me up?"_

_Naruto got off her and allowed her to stand before saying, "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, jinchūriki of the Kyūbi."_

_The girl smiled and took his hand, "Yugito Nii, jinchūriki of the Nibi. Well… former jinchūriki… I really hate those two immortal guys."_

_Naruto smirked, "Hidan and Kakuzu? I killed Kakuzu a couple of years back and Hidan died about the same time, my friend Shikamaru dealt with him."_

_Yugito's eyebrows went up, "Oh? I'll have to thank him."_

_Naruto's smile vanished, "He was killed last week. Ambush by the guy in charge of Akatsuki."_

_Yugito frowned, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."_

_Naruto shrugged, "It's okay. Losing Hinata-chan towards the start of the war sort of inured me to it…"_

_Yugito's frown deepened, "Hinata-chan?"_

_Naruto shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it, please."_

_Yugito nodded, before she looked around, "I think we should get out of here. This building's going to come down in a few seconds."_

_Naruto nodded and caught her arm as he shunshined them out of the building, the roar of collapsing materials ringing in their ears as the structure gave in to the call of gravity and caved in upon itself._

_Flashback Pause!_

Hikaru blinked momentarily, before another memory surfaced…

_Flashback Resume!_

_They were on the battlefield, fighting Kabuto a month later. In that time he and Yugito had got to know each other very well, and the pain he felt from Hinata's death had started to fade as a prospective romance began to show its colours like a shaft of sunlight breaking through storm clouds so thick that it was like night._

_Kabuto grinned maliciously as he laid eyes on Yugito, "Well, well, one of my own summons, returned to life! Have you been enjoying her, Naruto-kun? Well I do believe that you've had long enough together now so… Kai!"_

_Yugito suddenly staggered, pressing a hand to her head as something like dust and ash began to fall from her body. A split second later she collapsed, Naruto catching her as she coughed, more ash pouring from her body as she whispered, "Na… Naru… Naruto… -kun…"_

"_No…" whispered Naruto, tears springing to his eyes as yet another person who could have understood the pain he felt all his life died in front of him with him helpless to do anything._

_Yugito raised a hand shedding ash with every inch it moved and stroked his whiskered cheek, "Thank you, Naruto-kun… it was nice to know someone who really understood me before I died again…"_

_Tears formed in Naruto's eyes, "Yugito…"_

_She closed her eyes and the last of the ash crumbled away, leaving only an unfamiliar shinobi in his arms._

_Naruto whispered, "No…" before dropping the shinobi and allowing golden chakra to light up all across his body as he flung himself on Kabuto and surrendered to the Kyūbi's bloodlust._

_Flashback Pause!_

Hikaru blinked a single tear away before he suddenly recalled a third memory…

_Flashback Resume!_

_Naruto came back to his senses a long time later, lying on his back on the ground. As he raised his head and looked around, his eyes widened slightly._

_He was lying in the midst of a field of utter carnage. Blood was sprayed everywhere, interspersed with occasional patches where white scales added some little colour to the sanguine ground. Lying nearby, his eyes stabbed out and mouth wrenched so far open that his chin was practically touching the nape of his neck, lay Kabuto's head._

_Naruto simply stared at it in shock before he felt his gorge rising and vomited at what he knew he had done. The body of the shinobi Kabuto had used to resurrect Yugito lay nearby, on the only clean area of ground left within what looked to be a twenty five metre radius circle of vitae-soaked earth._

_Naruto gazed at the shinobi's empty eyes for a long moment before he closed his eyes and broke down completely, tears splashing onto the bloody dirt as yet another fount of pain welled up in Naruto's chest at loss of yet another person who he knew could have been the one for him; the one who could _understand_._

_Flashback End!_

Hikaru broke eye-contact with Yugito and took a deep breath to steady himself before he smiled, "Charmed, Yugito-san."

Yugito gave him a curious look before nodding, "Likewise, Namikaze-san."

Hikaru smiled before turning to the Raikage, "If you'll follow me, Raikage-sama, I will escort you to the Hokage's office."

A rather emotionless voice spoke up at that moment from behind the Raikage's party, "May we follow as well?"

Hikaru looked around the group to see who had spoken and was startled by what he saw; a man in Kage robes just like A's, except the yellow parts were blue and the hat was adorned with the kanji for water.

Yagura… the Yondaime Mizukage, and jinchūriki of the Sanbi no Kyōdaigame.

Hikaru recovered quickly, "Sorry, Mizukage-sama but one Kage turning up at our gates is enough of a coincidence. I hope you do not mind a quick scan to verify that you are who you claim?"

Yagura simply nodded, so Hikaru nudged Hinata and she activated her Byakugan.

A few seconds passed while she scrutinized each individual person in the vicinity before she turned to Hikaru and said, "I see no evidence of henges on any of them. The only thing I saw out of place was a chakra signature around the Mizukage's brain, which I think is a genjutsu…"

Hikaru nodded and approached the Mizukage, "Mizukage-sama, I believe there is some kind of genjutsu on your mind and if you would be so kind as to sit down I will break it for you."

Yagura didn't respond, but Hikaru caught a brief flash of _something _in his eyes as he signalled Izumo and Kotetsu, watching from the booth by the gate, that he might require assistance at any moment.

Yagura slowly removed his hat… then whipped the odd hook-blade on his back over his head and brought it down on Hikaru, who was barely able to draw his katana to stop it.

In the second that it took the two Kiri shinobi to draw their weapons as well, four other people moved.

One of the Kiri shinobi was just bringing his katana around when he suddenly went rigid and collapsed, Hinata standing over him with her Byakugan active and fingers glowing with chakra, having just sealed off most of the tenketsu in the man's body.

At the same time his friend was tackled by a blonde-haired jinchūriki woman who rolled him over and twisted his arms behind his back, making sure to keep his hands apart so that he couldn't perform jutsu.

Yagura himself was disarmed and tackled by A and Bee, who pinned him down as A said, "Break it, now!"

Hikaru swiftly slapped a seal tag on Yagura's forehead and began writing at top speed, using his other hand to hold down the man's head. Finally he withdrew his hand and flashed through seals, "Kai!"

Almost immediately, Yagura's eyes cleared and he stopped struggling. "Why am I lying on the ground?"

Hikaru bowed, "My apologies, Mizukage-sama, but you had a genjutsu on your mind which caused you to attack when I suggested I remove it, so Raikage-sama and his bodyguard were kind enough to restrain you long enough for me to neutralize the genjutsu. Thank you, Raikage-sama and Bee-san."

Bee grinned and jumped up, "Hey, it's him you should be smacking, since it was you he was attacking!"

Hikaru suppressed a sudden urge for his eye to twitch, and silently resolved to make sure that this man _never _met Gai and Lee. Kami only knew what might occur if they did.

-WJGW-

Far above, an unspeakably perfect woman suddenly stopped in the middle of her conversation with a tall blond man and shuddered, prompting him to ask what was wrong.

Shaking off the feeling, she returned to the conversation.

-WJGW-

Yagura had stood up as soon as A and Bee let him go, but he stumbled almost immediately, only for Hikaru to catch his arm, "You'll feel a little faint for a while since your mind had become accustomed to the genjutsu, so I wouldn't exert yourself too much."

Yagura nodded before he blinked and said, "It seems I am in your debt, Namikaze-san."

Hikaru frowned, "Why?"

Yagura nodded more to himself than Hikaru, "When I return to my own country, I will need to do a lot of work to rectify what that genjutsu did to me…" He noticed the Kiri shinobi who had been hit with Jyūken pointing his katana at Hinata, "What in Kami's name are you doing?"

The Kiri shinobi looked puzzled, "…She has a bloodline, sir. Didn't you declare all bloodlines…?"

Yagura's eyes narrowed, "When we return to Kiri, you are getting demoted. That whole anti-bloodline crap was the product of the genjutsu on me, and I refuse to let it continue. I will need to attempt to make peace with the resistance as well, before my country plunges even further into civil war."

Hikaru raised a hand, "Mizukage-sama, I do not mean to tell you your business but would the easiest way to repair relations with the resistance be to step down and allow their leader to take the seat of Mizukage? You can still implement the changes in your country from an advisory capacity, and since I believe your people would be disinclined to believe that the "anti-bloodline" Yondaime Mizukage has reformed, placing a new Mizukage in charge would be the best possible solution."

Yagura scrutinized him, "Have you done this before?"

Hikaru gave him a benevolent smile, "No. I have simply been travelling for a long time before I returned to Konoha, and I know that the leader of the resistance is a woman named Mei Terumī, who has two bloodlines and thus would be the perfect face for change in your country. A woman such as her, who won the hearts and minds of a portion of the people for her cause, would be perfect for the position."

Yagura nodded, "I see. It is something to consider for when I return to Kiri, but now may I see the Hokage?"

Hikaru nodded, "Of course! Right this way Mizukage-sama, Raikage-sama."

He set off down the road, grinning at Izumo and Kotetsu on the way past.

Behind him, a pair of dark, slanted eyes was fixed on his back, catlike curiosity sparkling in their depths.

-WJGW-

Yugito couldn't sleep. Ever since the first time she had met Hikaru Namikaze she had been curious about him. It was like he had been lost in memories the first time he saw her, and she was sure she had seen a tear in his eye as he looked away.

Giving up, she wrote a quick note saying where she'd gone and climbed out of the window, taking a moment to look at the ANBU standing in front of her on the lawn when she landed, "I would like to speak with Hikaru Namikaze, if that is alright. Can you tell me where he lives?"

Behind the dragon mask, one of Tenzō's eyebrows went up. _"It's seriously not enough that he has my co-worker, one of his fellow jōnin-sensei and a member of the T&I liking him, but he seriously has foreign kunoichi after him too? I might as well take her over there; he can defend himself well enough if he needs to."_

Out loud he said, "Of course. It's this way."

Tenzō summoned another ANBU to take his place before he led Yugito through the village, keeping a close eye on her just in case. Finally they stopped outside a large building and Tenzō nodded at it, "There."

Yugito nodded and moved towards the door, but before she could knock she heard a voice say, "I'm over here."

Turning, she saw a mess of blond hair through the long grass. Allowing herself a small smile, she stepped over to where Hikaru lay and sat down beside him, "Hello."

Hikaru turned his head to look at her, "Hello, Yugito-san."

Yugito gazed up at the starlit sky for a second before she said, "Why?"

Hikaru cracked one eye open, "Why what?"

Yugito looked down at the single blue eye she could see, "Why did you react like you did when I met you? You seemed to be lost in memories, then seemed to be trying not to cry when you looked away. Hell, I'm sure I saw a tear…"

Hikaru sighed, "Years ago, I fell in love with a girl. She wasn't even real; she was the resurrected spirit of somebody I'd never met, being controlled by an evil man who had it out for me. I broke his hold on her, but just as our relationship was getting off the ground he killed her."

Yugito looked puzzled, "But what does that have to do with me?"

Hikaru turned his head to look at her, "Because she looked almost exactly like you. When I saw you, I saw her, and those memories came back. That's why I had such a reaction."

Yugito gazed down at him for a moment before she nodded, "I see. Well that's all I really wanted to ask so goodnight."

She stood up, smiled down at him and walked off through the gate and down the street with Tenzō following quietly behind her.

Hikaru's eyes followed her until she was swallowed by the darkness, before his gaze returned to contemplating the heavens.

-WJGW-

The day of the third phase dawned bright and warm. Hikaru woke Naruto and walked with him over to the Hyūga compound to collect Hinata before they headed on to the Uchiha compound. They were puzzled to find Sasuke gone, at least until Naruto found a note which said that Kakashi had taken him off for some last-minute training.

Hikaru made a silent promise to, if Kakashi made Sasuke late for the Chūnin Exams, find the one-eyed jōnin and beat the snot out of him until he begged for mercy.

They arrived at the field early, so they had a brief spree of bets with each other about who would win what fight. Finally the other genin started filtering into the arena, at which point Naruto posed the question, "Who's going to be the proctor for this phase?"

Hikaru smirked, "Me! Hokage-sama gave me special permission!"

Naruto gulped at the evil look on his cousin's face, before he smirked himself, "I'll just have to make sure I win then!"

Hikaru grinned, "We'll see about that, little man."

-WJGW-

Once everybody was seated in the stands and the genin were all in a line in front of Hikaru (except Sasuke, he noticed in faint irritation), he folded his arms and said, "Alright you 'orrible lot. The rules are these; I can end fights at any time if I think one of the contestants is unable to continue. Otherwise the fights will continue until one of you is dead, unconscious or otherwise incapable of continuing the battle. Fights will be one-on-one. Leaving the arena will result in a forfeit, as will any outside interference on either side. Other than that, there are no limitations. Do you understand these rules?"

At their nods he said, "Right then, will all but Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze and Tenten Takeshi move to the contestants' box?"

As all the genin and their sensei except for Naruto and Tenten proceeded over to the stairs, Hikaru raised his voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, shinobi and kunoichi, kages and daimyōs, I am your host Hikaru Namikaze and I am pleased to present the third phase of the Chūnin Exams!"

As applause and cheering came from the stands he gestured towards Naruto, "In this corner we have the blond maelstrom of Konoha, the prankster king extraordinaire and the unofficial ramen-eating champion of the world, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!"

Naruto stared at him blankly as the audience applauded, before Hikaru continued, "In the other corner we have, weighing in at…" he ducked as a kunai passed through the space his head had previous occupied, "She's the bun-haired beauty, Konoha's latest weapons mistress and the queen of all things that disembowel, Tenten Takeshi!"

-WJGW-

In the Kages' box, Sarutobi palmed his face as he felt the gazes of his three equals from separate villages burning holes in the side of his head, "Sorry, Hikaru tends to get a little overexcited…"

A chuckled, "I think I need to find this guy after the third phase and ask if he's interested in a spar. He seems like the type to enjoy a good fight."

Sarutobi looked up, "Yes, he does."

Yagura held up a hand, "Let's just watch and see how the fights go…"

-WJGW-

Naruto drew his ninjatō as Tenten produced a katana from her weapons scroll and settled into a ready stance as Hikaru looked back and forth between them, "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, are you ready?"

At Naruto's nod, he turned to Tenten, "Tenten Takeshi, are you ready?"

She nodded as well, so he raised a hand in the air and sliced it down, "HAJIME!" before leaping out of range.

The two genin paced around each other for a full minute before Naruto's natural impatience won out. Creating three Kage Bunshin he shot towards Tenten at top speed, bringing down his ninjatō in a downwards slash which she parried before jumping over the horizontal swings of the Kage Bunshin, allowing them to connect with each other.

As she brought her katana down in a diagonal slash that Naruto diverted with the edge of his ninjatō, she noticed the two Kage Bunshin were approaching at high speed. Flipping over the stab from one, she got under his guard and sliced him across the chest, forcing him to dispel.

This proved a mistake, since the second one used the cloud of chakra smoke to get the drop on her. She was forced to use a Kawarimi to avoid getting spitted, a fate the log was less able to avoid, and thus was able to stab the clone in the back while it was trying to free its weapon.

Naruto allowed himself a slight frown as his clones were dispelled by Tenten, before he grinned and plunged back into combat.

Tenten took a slight nick across one cheek as Naruto surprised her with a kunai thrown from his free left hand, but paid him back in full (and then some) a few seconds later with a slash across the chest, slicing his shirt in half and leaving his chest bare.

A reflexive parry sent Tenten momentarily off balance as she realized too late that Naruto had left that hole in his defence so that he could take advantage of her attack. A brief puff of chakra smoke later and she realized that Naruto had had another Kage Bunshin hidden somewhere as it substituted with her katana and then dispelled, leaving her defenceless. Even as she leapt back and tried to draw her weapons scroll to summon another weapon, loops of ninja wire sprang from Naruto's sleeves (the remnants of his shirt still barely hanging off his frame) and coiled tight around her wrists. One tug and a deft bit of knotting later, Tenten found herself lying on her side on the sand with her arms and legs bound up behind her in what felt like a comfortably tight hogtie.

Hikaru grinned as he grabbed Naruto's arm and held it up in the air, "Shōsha, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!"

Naruto picked up Tenten, slung her over his shoulder and carried her towards the stairs as Hinata and Rock Lee started down to the field (Hinata giving Naruto a kiss on the way past).

Once each of them were standing in front of him he announced, "And now, standing in this corner we have the princess of the Hyūga clan, the girl who can render a pervert impotent with but a single jab, the queen of the Jyūken, Hinata Hyūga!"

As cheering echoed from the stands (Naruto being one of the loudest), Hikaru gestured towards Lee, "And in the other corner we have Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast himself, the self-proclaimed Handsome Devil of the Hidden Leaf Village and unofficial second-place winner of the Bushiest-Brows competition, only losing out to his sensei… if you use that genjutsu or that infernal teeth ping Lee I will beat you myself, rules be damned… ROCK LEE!"

Lee's bellow of "YOSH!" was lost in the applause for both contestants as Hikaru raised his hand and slashed it back down.

"HAJIME!"

The two taijutsu-users were on each other like wildcats, jabbing and punching as hard and fast as they could.

Hinata ducked a leg swing from Lee and jabbed her index and middle fingers up into the back of his knee, causing his ankle to go limp before he swung back around and was able to catch her with a glancing blow on the side of the head.

Hinata staggered and blinked the stars from her eyes, but wasn't fast enough to dodge a second time as Lee's fist powered into her abdomen and sent her sprawling.

Hikaru walked over to her, "You okay, Hinata?"

Hinata coughed, "I'm… fine. I think I'll forfeit though."

Hikaru nodded, grabbing Lee's arm and pulling it into the air, "Shōsha, Rock Lee!"

Lee's second roar of "YOSH!" drowned out the crowd's applause by a fair degree.

Hinata healed her bruised stomach enough to walk, so she and Lee walked back to the contestant's box while Kankurō moved to walk down.

Shikamaru tutted, "This is so troublesome… can't I just forfeit?"

Naruto and Hinata exchanged a look. As one they nodded, grabbed Shikamaru by a shoulder each and threw him over the railing.

Hikaru was just in time to catch the pineapple-headed shadow user before he plowed headfirst into the sand. After he had set Shikamaru on his feet, the boy cast an irritated look up at the only members of Team 7 currently present in the box, who were grinning back at him, "Troublesome people."

Hikaru hit him across the back of the head, "Shut up and stop griping; you've got a match to fight."

Shikamaru tutted as Kankurō came to a halt in front of him and Hikaru started his introductory spiel, "In this corner we have the slothful shadow-user himself, the Shika of the second generation Ino-Shika-Chō trio and probably the smartest brat alive under that attitude, SHIKAMARU NARA!"

Shikamaru facepalmed as Hikaru turned his attention to Kankurō, who was giving him a look which plainly said, _"Say anything embarrassing and I will do something ghastly to you jōnin or not."_

"In the other corner we have a puppet-master of Suna who could potentially get as good as Sasori but hopefully won't get his head as far up his ass…" There was laughter from the Suna-nins in the crowd who had come to see the third phase, "…He's the Kazekage's elder son, and hopefully as good as his old man, he's Sabaku no Kankurō!"

The Kazekage and Hokage simultaneously facepalmed as the Raikage and Mizukage threatened to laugh themselves sick.

Kankurō scowled at Hikaru before producing Karasu and preparing to fight.

Shikamaru tutted slightly before saying, "Troublesome…" and throwing a kunai at Kankurō, who fired a kunai from Karasu to knock it away. That seemed to have been Shikamaru's plan, since his hands flew to the rat seal for his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique); his shadow springing to first one kunai, then the next before successfully capturing the puppet.

Hikaru watched with raised eyebrows, his mind cataloguing the tactic, _"Interesting. He tricked Kankurō into giving him the perfect opportunity to capture his main source of attack. However the plan stops there, since I think Shikamaru forgot that chakra threads cast no shadows."_

His assumption was true; Shikamaru was quietly cursing to himself as he tried to find a way to use his control over the puppet to gain an advantage. He moved into his thinking pose (causing an unfortunate change in the puppet's posture which drew laughs from the crowd and causing Kankurō to wince as he severed the chakra threads and caused the puppet to go limp.

Shikamaru suddenly noticed that a single bandage that must've been left from when the puppet was wrapped up trailed from the puppet's leg back towards Kankurō, coming to an end about a foot from Kankurō's left foot.

Kankurō's eyes followed the path of Shikamaru's own gaze and came to a stop on the end of the bandage. Even as his eyes widened and he moved to leap away, Shikamaru's shadow flew from the tip of the bandage and latched onto his own foot.

Hikaru moved towards them, starting to develop a feeling of déjà vu as he turned to Shikamaru and said, "You're going to forfeit, aren't you?"

Shikamaru gave him a look before nodding once, "Yes. I forfeit."

Hikaru nodded as the shadow retracted, "Shōsha, Sabaku no Kankurō!"

There was applause and Kankurō collected his puppet again.

As they left the arena, Hikaru shunshined up to Sarutobi and said, "Sasuke isn't here. I know he's with Kakashi but I need time to track them down."

Sarutobi nodded, "Okay. Go."

Hikaru shunshined straight back into the arena, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to take a five-minute interval while one of our next contestants is found! Please take the time to buy a snack or something before returning to your seat for more action!"

He shot out of the arena before anybody could respond.

-WJGW-

Five minutes later, Hikaru returned to the arena with Sasuke holding onto his right arm and his left hand holding Kakashi by the ear. "WHAT DID I SAY?" he yelled, drawing the attention of the audience as he twisted Kakashi's ear, "MAKE SASUKE LATE FOR HIS BOUT AND I PUT YOU IN THE DOGHOUSE WITH A LEAD AND COLLAR!"

Kakashi winced, "Ow! Ow! Ow! I'm sorry; I was going to bring him along five minutes after you came along to get him!"

Sasuke nodded, "It's true… he actually did say the words "another five minutes and I'll take you down"."

Hikaru scowled, "Be that as it may, but his bout should've started five minutes ago. Ten minutes late for that bout is _still _late!"

Kakashi winced, "Alright! I'll make it up afterwards, ok?"

Hikaru switched moods, causing everybody listening in (in other words, the entire audience) to sweatdrop, "What a great idea, Kakashi! Now be a good boy and go sit in the stands."

Kakashi nodded and shot off towards the stand as Temari flew down on her fan.

Hikaru stepped backwards, "Ladies and gentlemen, the third phase will now continue! In this corner we have the Lord of the Copy Wheel Eye, the latest Snake Sage, the raven-haired avenger himself, SASUKE UCHIHA!"

The cheering was deafening as the civilians of Konoha clamoured to support the man they saw as being the pinnacle of Konoha's protectors and the daimyōs prepared to see the power of the Sharingan in action.

Hikaru swept out his other arm towards Temari, "In the other corner we have the fairest wind mistress in the land, the only daughter of the Kazekage and probably in need of a date…" Temari went brick red and swung her fan at him while the Kazekage fell off his chair laughing at her expression, "…SABAKU NO TEMARI!"

Hikaru raised his hand and slashed it down, "Hajime!"

Temari's first reaction was to swing her fan through the air, sending a blast of wind at Sasuke who unsealed his weapon and swiped the fire-bladed end up in front of him, perfectly bisecting the blast and causing the halves to pass harmlessly on either side of him.

Even as Temari refolded her fan, Sasuke was on her in barely a second. She was forced to block the blow with her weapon, but was shocked a second later by the strength of the blow as the fan shuddered in her hands. For such a frail-looking tool, the staff weapon the Uchiha was now spinning around his body was a powerful weapon.

-WJGW-

Temari was quick to discover that she might just have a serious problem on her hands. Every gust of wind she sent at the Uchiha was neutralized by his fire affinity, and his physical attacks themselves were just as worrisome. Then he suddenly separated the staff into three sections and began using it like a pair of spears.

Temari was forced to forfeit following that little shock, leaving Sasuke facing Gaara.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hikaru yelled with barely restrained glee, "Now we will witness the fifth and final match of the Chūnin Exam quarter finals! In one corner we have the previous warrior, Sasuke Uchiha!"

He waited for the applause to die down before saying, "And in the other corner we have a new challenger! Allow me to introduce the terror of the Hidden Sand, the raging sandstorm and the Kazekage's youngest, SABAKU NO GAARA!"

Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand to a roar of applause from the crowds. Hikaru grinned, "Ready… FIGHT!"

Sasuke flashed through seals, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

As the fireball flew towards Gaara and a sand wall flew up to deflect it, Sasuke himself unsealed his sansetsukon and ran at Gaara as fast as he could.

He found his legs being whipped out from under him fifteen feet from Gaara, but was able to circulate lightning chakra through his legs in order to blast the sand off.

-WJGW-

Hikaru's and A's eyebrows ratcheted up a notch each.

-WJGW-

Sasuke hit the sand and tried to stand up, only to fall back down, _"Damn it! I can't move my legs, they're completely numb!"_

Hikaru took a step forwards, but Sasuke waved him off, "I'm fine, sensei!" Hikaru frowned, but stepped away and allowed his student to continue.

Sasuke pushed himself into a kneeling position and began channelling more lightning chakra through his legs, causing them to be sheathed in a blue glow.

-WJGW-

A's eyes widened and he leapt to his feet, startling Bee and Yugito who were standing behind him, "Impossible! A genin could not already have that level of nature manipulation down!"

Sarutobi smiled, "That would normally be true, but the genin of Team 7 are by no means at genin level. I would estimate that Sasuke and Hinata, the Hyūga who fought in the second fight, are both about chūnin level themselves."

Yagura picked up on the missing student, "What of the third?"

Sarutobi's smile widened into a full grin, "Naruto, the blond who fought first today, is easily jōnin-level."

Yugito leaned forwards, "It's because he's a jinchūriki, isn't he?"

They all stared at her. She blushed, "I can smell its yōki on him. Kyūbi, is it not?"

Sarutobi sighed, "Yes. The Yondaime sealed the Kyūbi inside Naruto at the cost of his own life."

The Kazekage smiled, "I would assume that is why his sensei repaired my son's seal, is it not? Because he had a student who had a similar issue and thus was an obvious template for how Gaara should have been?"

Sarutobi nodded, "I know Hikaru Namikaze's thought patterns not, for that is easily a road to madness…" He allowed himself a wry chuckle, "But I know full well that that man would not be able to sit by and let somebody suffer."

Yagura chuckled, "Well, that's very interesting." He tugged on the Raikage's sleeve, "Sit, Raikage-dono, and let us continue to watch this bout for I believe it is about to get interesting…"

-WJGW-

Gaara inspected the raven-haired boy as he straightened up, his legs sheathed to the thighs in blue light. Finally he smirked, "This could be most interesting…"

Sasuke took a step forwards and then vanished. Gaara's sand poured into his shield and blocked Sasuke's kick before it landed. It still left a crater in the shield though, and Gaara's face was sprayed with granules of sand that were shaken off the rear face of the shield.

Sasuke leapt backwards, skidding in the sand and leaving a tiny sheen of glass where his feet were positioned before flying forwards again and throwing himself into a barrage of blows that threatened to destroy Gaara's shield entirely. Gaara heaped more and more chakra-laced sand into the shield, drawing it up from the arena floor until finally he could barely feel Sasuke's kicks on the other side.

Hikaru was watching this impassively from one side, in between making "This had nothing to do with me!" gestures at Sarutobi and glaring at Kakashi, who was making similar gestures back at him, but with more of a "Please don't maim me!" form of desperation to the frantic arm-waving and head-shaking.

Finally he noticed that Sasuke's kicks were slowing, and realized that the chakra sheaths around Sasuke's legs were draining his chakra at a prodigious rate. Finally the chakra fizzled out and Sasuke fell onto the floor as Gaara's sand shield smoothly dissipated.

The med-nins rushed on, and Hikaru could tell by the grim expression of the one scanning Sasuke's legs with a green-glowing hand that it wasn't good news. He intercepted the man as they were carrying the now-unconscious Uchiha away, "What's wrong with him?"

The man looked apologetic, knowing by Hikaru's worried face that this was the patient's sensei, "Whatever he did to his legs burnt out all the nerve endings in them. I'm sorry Namikaze-sama… but chances are that this genin will never walk again."

Hikaru's shoulders visibly slumped. In a suddenly-melancholy mood, he walked over to Gaara and picked up his arm, "Shōsha, Sabaku no Gaara…" before shunshining up to the contestant's box to deliver the bad news to Naruto and Hinata. Hinata rushed off after the medic-nins (leaving the single Kage Bunshin she could create without passing out behind to watch the next matches) while Naruto and Lee headed downstairs to the arena, Gaara appearing out of a swirl of sand a second afterwards and sitting down without saying a single word.

As soon as Hikaru had updated Sarutobi on Sasuke's condition, he headed back down to the arena and prepared for the next match to take place.

"Naruto Uzumaki versus Rock Lee…" he said in a tone far removed from his previous gusto.

A second later one of Naruto's clones backhanded him, "Brighten up! He's not dead and he wouldn't want you to be grouchy because you're worried!"

Hikaru scowled and dispelled the clone with a kunai between the eyes, but then straightened up and boomed, "Ladies and gentlemen! Now begins the semi-finals of the Chūnin Exams! First up, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze versus Rock Lee! Which will triumph, the Ransūken's random strikes, or the Gōken's coordinated brute force? Find out now! Ready… HAJIME!"

-WJGW-

Naruto's and Lee's first strikes met, sending out a ripple of pressure that made Hikaru shunshin up to balance on the edge of the contestant's box, watching carefully.

The spinning kicks that followed up the first attack sent a wave of sand across the arena, so Hikaru was forced to shunshin around the arena walls slapping barrier tags every twenty feet to stop the fallout from hitting the audience.

Lee grinned, making Naruto wish for a pair of sunglasses as the two boys danced and spun around one another, each searching for openings to exploit in the other's defence, "You are most youthful, Naruto-kun!"

He skidded to a stop and glanced up at his sensei, who nodded once. Lee reached under his legwarmers and pulled out a series of weight belts, which he tossed onto the sand one by one. The ground shuddered with every one that hit.

Hikaru cursed; he'd forgotten that Lee used weights to slow himself down. He'd need to get Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata working on that after the invasion… no, not Sasuke. The medic-nin had said that he might never walk again.

Naruto swallowed, before glancing over at Hikaru and holding up two fingers.

Hikaru shook his head and held up one.

Naruto said, "Bear with me a minute," and crouched, bringing his hands into a ram seal.

Sarutobi's jaw slackened and dropped as his counterparts from the other villages unwittingly imitated him, eyes fixed on the red chakra cloak that had formed around Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze down on the arena floor.

Lee's eyes widened (a little more than usual) and he glanced up at his own sensei, who glanced at Hikaru.

Hikaru simply shrugged and gave him a "Why not?" look. Gai nodded, turned back to Lee and held up a single finger.

Lee grinned broadly as he said, "Most youthful, Naruto-san! It seems we have been given permission to enhance the experience! First Gate: Gate of Opening, open!"

A pillar of visible chakra shot up around Lee before he and Naruto each took a step forwards and vanished.

The audience blinked, only to grab hold of their seats a second later as explosions started going off all across the arena, showers of sand raining back down as shockwave after shockwave thudded through the stadium.

Finally there was a deafening roar of "FRONT LOTUS!" from above, causing everybody to look up and see Lee with Naruto wrapped in bandages in front of him.

Hikaru reflexively crossed his fingers, and a few seconds later Naruto came through for him. The Kyūbi's chakra ate through the bandages, Naruto grabbed hold of Lee and flipped him over before kicking down to the ground and bodyslamming Lee hard enough for the trees on top of the Hokage Monument to quake.

As soon as the tremors had stopped, Hikaru dropped the barrier and jumped down into the arena.

In the middle of the crater in the middle lay Lee, unconscious. Naruto was sprawled beside him, but still conscious. Grinning, Hikaru picked up the blond genin and held his arm over his head, "Shōsha, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!"

The crowd applauded as medic-nins came on to take Lee away. They tried to take Naruto too but Hikaru waved them off, citing that the smaller blond only needed a quick rest up in the contestant's box and he'd be fine. They finally conceded and hurried off as Hikaru deposited Naruto in the contestant's box under Hinata-clone's careful ministrations.

Finally, the two Sabaku brothers stood in front of him as Hikaru paced around them, "Ladies and gentlemen! This battle seemingly will be all in the family, as we watch the Kazekage's sons battle it out! Now… HAJIME!"

The battle didn't last long. Gaara, who seemed to have recently developed mean pranking attitude, grabbed Kankurō by the back of his pants with sand and yanked upwards. The puppeteer's girly shriek of pain attested to what had just happened, prompting all the males in the audience (including four Kages, a Sannin, and two jinchūriki) to wince and reflexively cross their legs.

Gaara smirked at his brother, "Forfeit, or I do it again."

Kankurō, knowing full well that his brother _would _follow up on the threat, immediately forfeited.

Hikaru scratched his jaw as the bandy-legged puppeteer toddled back off to the stairs, "Hmm, you may end up winning by default if Naruto isn't up again by now…"

A second later his knees almost buckled as Naruto jumped out of the stands and stood on his head, "Nah, I'm fine."

Hikaru growled, "Get… off… my head." There was laughter from the crowd as Naruto immediately did a passable impression of a circus gymnast by stretching his arms wide and doing a perfect somersault off his sensei's head.

Hikaru rubbed his scalp, "Brat. Anyway…"

He turned to face the crowd and began to pace around the two genin, "Today… we will witness the most anticipated match in this year's Chūnin Exam… for the prestigious title of chūnin! Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?"

A cheer came back, and Hikaru repeated himself, "Ladies and gentlemen, are you rrrrready?"

A louder cheer came back, and Hikaru continued, "For the hundreds in attendance, and the thousands watching around the Elemental Nations, from the ninja capital of Hi no Kuni… ladies and gentlemen… LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!"

He leapt into the air and slammed the barrier seals back up, "HAJIME!"

Almost on cue, there was an explosion and everybody looked around as the alarm signifying the activation of the mass-genjutsu-dispelling seals lining the roof of the stadium blared.

Hikaru scowled and shouted down to Naruto, "Naruto, take Hinata and the rest of the rookies and escort the civilians from the stadium! Gaara, take Temari and Kankurō and start defending our borders with the other Sand-nins that came in the last week!"

Gaara nodded and vanished as Naruto leapt up to the contestant's box. Hinata rushed in and dispelled her clone, delivering a gentle kiss to Naruto's cheek before they waved at their sensei and jumped away to escort the civilians. A second later a massive quantity of Kage Bunshin exploded out from Naruto's position to cover all the exits.

Hikaru turned as Sound-nins started appearing in the arena and there was a hollow thud as the Kage's Box was shrouded in smoke. Hikaru took a step forwards and disappeared.

-WJGW-

Sarutobi and the other Kages landed on a rooftop and a second later, Orochimaru landed nearby. Sarutobi quietly drew a Hiraishin kunai that Hikaru had given him and tossed it onto the roof nearby.

Orochimaru grinned as the Sound Four landed in a rectangle around the area and the purple barrier flew up, "Four Kages for the price of one? Tsk, let me even the odds. Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!"

Sarutobi paled, "You perfected that… that sick jutsu?"

Orochimaru laughed as three coffins rose slowly from the ground, "Kukukukuku… what's the matter Sarutobi-sensei? Are you not proud of your student? WHY SO SERIOUS?"

The coffins swung open, revealing three battered-looking figures.

Orochimaru reached out and placed two seal tags in the heads of two of the figures, before placing another tag in the head of the third figure. All three straightened up and looked around as they stepped out of their coffins. The tallest, a man with brown hair, smiled as he looked around him, "Wow, Sarutobi's done good things with our village hasn't he brother?"

The man with silver hair at the other end of the line of coffins nodded, "Yes, indeed. Such a shame that we have no choice but to destroy it today…"

The man in the middle drew himself up and looked directly at Sarutobi, "Where is he, Sarutobi? Where is my son?"

"Minato…" whispered Sarutobi.

Minato Namikaze smiled, his blonde hair and white coat blowing slightly in the breeze as his blue eyes sparkled with life once more, "Nice to see you, Sarutobi. Now where is he?"

"He's fine," said a voice off to one side, and everybody turned to see Hikaru Namikaze stepping out of the air inside the barrier, while four Kage Bunshin appeared at the corners of the barrier with kunai at the necks of the Sound Four, "I wasn't expecting to see you again, cousin Minato?"

Minato remembered what Kami had told him about his son from the future taking on the guise of a cousin in order to avoid suspicion. Smiling, he said, "Nice to see you too, cousin Hikaru."

Hikaru was puzzled, but hid it very well as he grinned, putting his left hand inside his coat and drawing out a Hiraishin kunai by the ring around his middle finger.

Minato mirrored the action as Hikaru turned to the Kage Bunshin n between the barriers, "Kill the males. The girl fits the description of Tayuya that Kin and Kimimaro both gave us, so take her to T&I and ditch her in a room with them. See if they can't reason with her and I'll go there to break her seal as soon as I can."

"What? NO!" shouted Kidōmaru, only to cough and hack as the clone holding him cut his throat.

Sakon, Ukon and Jirōbō died just as quickly, and Tayuya fought like a wildcat as the barrier collapsed and the clone took her away. The last thing they heard as her yelling, "Did I hear Kin's name you cocksuckeeeeeeerrrrr…?"

Minato chuckled, "Such a spirited redhead, she reminds me of my wife."

Hashirama laughed, "Mine too."

Tobirama grinned, "Ahhh, I still remember that day that she thought that you gave me permission to hit on her after you gave me your house-key so I could get something from your office. I remember all I had time to do was hold up the key and say "Hashirama gave me permission…" before she started throwing heavy objects at me."

Hashirama frowned, "Yeah… I was sleeping on the couch for weeks and I had _no idea _why."

Orochimaru snarled, "Stop this foolish trip down memory lane and kill them!"

Minato frowned, "Sorry cousin… but I can't really avoid the order here…"

Hikaru nodded, "Shall we do it then?"

Minato nodded. Before everybody's eyes, they each drew one arm back and flung the Hiraishin kunai off past where Hashirama stood, disappearing in identical flashes of yellow light.

The greatest battle in the history of Konoha…

…had only just begun.

**(A/N: And so ends another thrilling instalment of When Jutsu Go Wrong. (Oh my god, I swear I will never make a chapter this long ever again!) Now, I have a couple of announcements to make.**

**First, my next thing to work on will be Maelstrom, which will be a rewrite of the disastrous third chapter without the OC, but with a different character that I'm going to try a rather… **_**unique**_**… spin on.**

**Secondly, The Bijuu Forum is still going to run despite the numerous complaints that it is against the rules. I decided I was going to wait and see if the admins removed it, and I will continue it until then. If they do remove it, I intend to open an account at TONFA and post it there because maybe they will allow it. I will be sure to notify everybody if that happens.**

**Thirdly; My new system is that I work exclusively on one fic at a time, while putting occasional bits into my other works if I get an idea for how to proceed with them. This means that while Maelstrom will be my next piece to update, you might see something in between now and then.**

**And fourthly, for those of you following Blade in the Shadows I recently got over the three-to-four-month writer's block and am now returning to writing the story, so keep an eye out for that update in the next future.**

**Well, I'd better wrap this up; heaven knows it's long enough already. Therefore I will just say enjoy your day and have a nice life. Leonineus, OUT!)**


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